Women's Health History (Conservation) Diary

For millennia, in many civilizations, interest in women's health has extended to the physical, reproductive health and the ability of a woman to have a healthy child (in some eras and societies – a healthy boy). Beyond this function, neither her physical nor her mental health had been the subject of significant scientific interest until the nineteenth century. The echo of this over -focuse (or to say directly – neglect) echoes strongly even today, even in progressive societies.

However, in order to be aware of the « female » medicine today, we must be aware of its history and scope, the missed opportunities and the victories achieved, and the purposes that no one has ever set.

Women's Health in Ancient Civilizations

One of the oldest known sources of medical information on women's health is the Kahun gynecological papyrus (ca. 1850-1700 BC), which contains primary evidence of medical practices related to the health of women in ancient Egypt. It was discovered in 1889 by Flynders Petri in the area of ​​present -day Lehun, Egypt. The papyrus consists of 34 paragraphs, each of which examines specific medical problems related to women's health. The structure of the text includes a description of the symptoms, a recommendation to the doctor on how to diagnose the condition, and treatment, but without information about the prognosis.

Written diseases and conditions include vision problems, vaginal currents and other gynecological disorders. The Egyptians have linked many health problems (including eye problems, tooth, neck and head pain) to the condition of « wandering uterus » – an ancient Egyptian belief that the uterus can move around the woman's body and cause various physical and mental symptoms. Treatment included « smoking », massages, herbal remedies, compresses and internal administration of mixtures such as donkey milk and animal fat.

Among the most significant texts in the papyrus are the first known references to contraception methods. One of the passages mentions the use of crocodile feces, but in modern studies of the ancient source it is noted that there is no sure evidence that the substance has been directly applied internally – it may have been used as an ingredient for the so -called. Smoking. Another remedy is honey applied to the uterus.

Classical antiquity marks the beginning of attempts to classify different fields of medical research, then the terms of gynecology and obstetrics are included in use. The Hippocrat Corps, an extensive collection of tracts attributed to Hippocrates, also contains a number of gynecological treatises. It is Hippocrates who first uses the term « cancer » to describe hard lesions in the female breasts, associating them with uterine and menstrual problems. From the time of Hippocrates and Aristotle, evidence of the existence of infertility tests has been dated. Among the methods described was, for example, the use of a red stone in the eyes of the woman.

In ancient times, obstetrics were well developed, with midwives playing a key role in medical practice and having a good knowledge of female anatomy and techniques for dealing with difficult births, including the use of herbal decoctions to relieve pain. Although weaker, various theories of contraception and abortion and tests to establish pregnancy are also developing. It is believed that the mother's mortality rate was comparable to that in later societies with better documentation, such as Rural England in the eighteenth century, where an average of 25 per 1000 births ended with the death of the mother. The infant mortality rate was also high, suggesting that in Roman society it reached up to 300 per 1000 births.

The body of a woman in Christian Europe

In early civilizations, many societies around the world have worshiped goddesses related to nature and fertility, which has reflected on the role of women in society and in the family. The gradual ejection of goddesses from cultural and religious life leads to the deletion of the religious and social influence of women.

The tendency leads to the creation of a social hierarchy, in which women begin to be perceived as subordinates to men, and this is dramatically affecting medicine and health.

In the 15th century, German Catholic priest Heinrich Kramer wrote the Malleus Maleficarum tract (« The Hammer of Witches »), in which he describes his personal views of « witchcraft » and recommended that the punishment for this activity be torture and burning the stake. Although not recognized by the official church, the tract is extremely popular and leads to further limiting women's access to medicine in medieval Europe.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, gynecology became an official medical field, but women were very limited to practicing the medical profession. During this period the fashion of « hysteria » arises. Although it is derived from the ancient Greek word ὑστέρα (hystera), meaning « uterus », in the mid -eighteenth century, the French Medical School imposed the term as the name of a psychiatric state of over -excitement, which mainly affects women. One of the methods of « treating » this condition that was practiced at the time was the removal of the ovaries.

Industrialization, Darwin and the first signs of feminization

The development of women's health in the 19th and early 20th centuries was marked by significant transformations, influenced by public attitudes, medical discoveries and pioneer contribution to this area.

On the one hand, with the advent of industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became visible to researchers that women from different social classes in developed societies were treated almost as different biological species (although the phenomenon dates from earlier). While for the upper -class women, the stereotype was forthcoming that they were weak and delicate, which was why they were recommended a number of physical and intellectual restrictions, for women who had to work, they were thought to be healthy and durable.

This social polarization is also deepened by social Darwinism, which justifies inequalities through biological arguments – Charles Darwin believed that women are intellectually inferior to men, but morally superior them. However, his evolutionary theory provides the basis for the idea that society can develop, and with it, the roles of women. It was this concept that was used by the defenders of women's rights in the nineteenth century to argue that sexual inequality is not inevitable and can be overcome over time.

Traditional home-made birth begins to gradually give way to the new birth opportunity in hospitals with support from doctors who believe that these conditions are safer and better controlled. In the 1940s, the establishment of hospitals specialized in the care of women began. Not only do they provide health services for women, they also allow the first doctors to practice actively. In 1872, Elizabeth Gareth Anderson founded London Hospital for Women, which was operated entirely by doctors.

One of the key points in the early twentieth century was the struggle for access to contraception. In 1916, Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York, which opposed existing laws. Sanger is also involved in the development of the contraceptive pill and the creation of the first family planning organizations. It is considered the founder of the birth control movement.

In parallel with these processes, the need to inform women about their health arises. The topic is gradually coming out of the sphere of categorical taboos in order to break into a true revolution in the second half of the 20th century, but for that – in the second part.

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