Infancy and the First Steps of Professional Midwifery Schools in Russia

This research is devoted to the analysis of the first schools for midwives in Russia and first of all we will review the principles, which were the basis for teaching obstetricians and understanding the socio-cultural reception childhood and motherhood, which arises in connection to this. Why the focus is on the professional organization of obstetric and midwifery practice development in Russia? Ideas about how childhood is interpreted, what status does a child have in the social structure, how the concern to protect the life of the newborn may be reflected - all these problems could be found in a variety of legal laws and regulations. Establishment of professional obstetrics is not only the important milestone in the history of medicine, it is also very important for the whole of human knowledge, as the emergence of professionally organized obstetrics may be a sign of changes of the attitude to women and children in the socio-cultural system. This is especially important when it comes to infants, since this stage of life is usually beyond the scope of social and cultural reflection, infancy is not asserting itself and attitude to infants shows itself in the history of culture indirectly through the represented visual images, creating a certain material culture and formation system of views on the care of mothers and children. Providing professional medical assistance to a woman during childbirth and to an infant means that their life and health are important for the state and they should not rely only on the grace of God.

midwifery, obstetrics, infancy, midwifery schools