Prenatal Care Practices: An Era Gone By

Brenda F. Johnson, MSN

"Open wide Mrs. Smith, I need to check your teeth. I don't see any pus but two of your teeth need to be pulled. We can arrange that later. Today we will be doing a blood test called the Wassermann test(a test for syphilis that could also detect TB or lupus). Now that you are pregnant, you may not wear a corset or binder because it causes low birth weight in newborns. I know many young women who have tried to hide their pregnancy by wearing a corset but it is detrimental to the newborn. It needs room to grow. Now I want you to start bathing regularly and try to walk every day. The fresh air and exercise will be good for you and the baby.

Um, any history of epilepsy, alcoholism or rheumatism? No?

Well, then my nurse will be in directly to take the blood and answer any questions."

This may have been what a prenatal visit would have sounded like in the 1920s. The Health Care of the Baby by Louis Fischer M.D. seventeenth edition published in 1929 reveals some captivating facts about prenatal care in the early 1900s. Fischer talks about the importance of looking at the teeth of pregnant women for pus. In our world, oral hygiene is a part of everyday life (or should be).

To think that brushing teeth did not become important until post World War II, about 1945, is hard to imagine. The soldiers brought the practice of routine teeth brushing home after the war. I'm so glad they did!

Prenatal care did not become common practice until the early 1900s so preventative care was a lone venture. Hygiene and hereditary disease were just beginning to make their appearance on the questionnaire for newly pregnant mothers. In the twenty years preceding, nursing was just beginning to gain the professionalism it deserved with the formation of the ANA (American Nurses Association) in 1911.

Among the professionals was Mary D. Osborne, known for promoting maternal and prenatal care in this era which paved the way for the medical field to increase standards for pregnant women. With the focus on prenatal care evolving and the increased involvement of nurses, the expectant mother received better health care and therefore decreased infant mortality.

Prenatal care can start before a woman is pregnant nowadays. She may begin taking prenatal vitamins, stop smoking, begin exercising, or change her diet to make sure she is in the best shape possible for her baby. She can take a test at home and find out very early that she is indeed pregnant. Maternity clothes have changed from loose pleated blouses/dresses to form fitting shirts that proudly display the blossoming belly. Societal views of pregnancy have changed over the last hundred years; unwed mothers are as common as nude pregnancy photos.

Looking back on historical medical practices gives us insight into what patients went through and allows us to reflect on how far we have come.

This is the beginning of a series of "An Era Gone By." Future articles will educate and entertain with the following topics: care of infants, treatment of medical conditions and diseases, public and personal health. These articles will come directly from books of the past meant to educate nurses of that time.

Series Update:

Nursemaids and Common Medical Conditions: An Era Gone By

Disease Transmission and Treatment: An Era Gone By

References

Fischer, Louis, M.D. The Health-Care Of the Baby. 17th ED. Funk & Wagnalls Company: New York, 1929. Print.

Judd, Deborah M. Nursing in the United States From 1900s to the Early 1920s. Web. 30 Dec. 2014.