Massive Maternal Dying during Childbirth and Confinement in Bjelovar and its Surroundings in the 19th Century Cover Image

Maternalni pomor u porođaju i babinju u Bjelovaru i okolici u 19. stoljeću
Massive Maternal Dying during Childbirth and Confinement in Bjelovar and its Surroundings in the 19th Century

Author(s): Dubravko Habek
Subject(s): Local History / Microhistory, Health and medicine and law, Demography and human biology, 19th Century
Published by: Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti - Zavod za znanstvenoistraživački i umjetnički rad u Bjelovaru
Keywords: Bjelovar; massive maternal dying; obstetrics; history; midwifery;

Summary/Abstract: Massive maternal dying during the 19th century in Bjelovar and the surrounding villages was connected with non-professional domicile childbirths and ignorance in connection with healthcare, particularly in rural settlements, despite the existence of organised healthcare and maternity protection in some of the villages in the Varaždin Military District, and later the Bjelovar-Križevci County. Maternal dying of a lesser scale had since the founding of the town of Bjelovar been recorded there; the town had an organised midwifery care including hospital medical service, surgeons and masters of obstetrics. The high rate of maternal dying (expecting mothers, parturient women, and women in confinement), particularly domicile, was accompanied by an even larger massive dying of the new-borns, which created a huge public healthcare problem. The registries of death of the Bjelovar County and the surrounding counties hold record of a massive dying of young women mainly due to the cause of death being in partu, in puerperio. In the Bjelovar hospital, deaths with defined causes (e.g. ruptura uteri, sepsis, hydrops) were recorded.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 87-94
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Croatian