Author/Editor		Košir, Tone
Title		Babištvo na Loškem: pregled od začetkov do leta 2000
Type		monografija
Place		Škofja Loka
Publisher		Zdravstveni dom Škofja Loka
Publication year		2003
Volume		str. 126
Language		slo
Abstract		The author begins the history of midwifery at Škofja Loka region in 1825 when at Javorje parish the first midwife's name was recorded in parish register. The midwife might have helped women in labour even earlier; however, there are no written documents about her activity. Due to inconsistent registration of midwives and their education before the year 1851 it is not known which midwives had formal education and which only helped as lay assistants. The line between the educated midwives and the lay assistants could only be drawn from the second half of the 19th century on. Formally uneducated midwives were slowly replaced by the educated ones, although in the highlands of Selška and Poljanska dolina the lay midwives are still reported at the beginning of World War 11. Midwifery has always been important for the health of nation and, therefore, it goes hand in hand with the job of physicians. To be admitted to the school for midwives, which had existed in Ljubljana since 1753, women had to fulfill certain conditions, such as age, physical and mental abilities, etc. Throughout the following decades the quality of midwife service was on the increase although midwives often worked in conditions hardly imaginable nowadays. By the beginning of World War II the main task of midwives was to help women in labour. However, some of them had already been attending women during pregnancy and thus giving their work a new dimension. After Wor1d War II this activity became part of their work and many new consulting centxes and maternity hospitals were established. In the seventies of the 20th century the number of women giving birth to children at home was reduced drastically, after many maternity hospitals had been established, one also at Kranj. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters).
Descriptors		MIDWIFERY NURSE MIDWIVES SCHOOLS, NURSING