MATERNITY CARE IN THE REGIONS OF NEW INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION IN THE 1960S (THE CASE OF KRASNOYARSK KRAI)

Abstract

The article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the maternity care system in the Krasnoyarsk krai during the 1960s, amidst the most intense phase of demographic transition and accelerated industrial development. It is written using a nomothetic approach, and the conclusions are primarily based on statistical and administrative sources, including annual reports from the obstetric service of the Krasnoyarsk region, notes, examination results, and inspections. Verification of evidence provided by medical professionals and officials is carried out by comparing them with vital statistics primarily derived from current population records. Given the extensive nature of the regional healthcare system’s development, the aim is achieved through analyzing quantitative socio-economic indicators: urban population size, the number of gynecologists, feldshers, and midwives, women’s clinics, obstetric, gynecological, and abortion beds, population cover-age by specific types of medical assistance, and the ratio of doctors to women in labor. To assess the effectiveness of obstetric and gynecological services, the demographic indicators dynamics are used: infant and maternal mortality rates, their causes, the number of premature births and stillbirths. It is argued that the key issue facing the maternity care system was the lag in the development of social infrastructure behind the rate of population growth, which was caused by objective factors. However, the author identifies a number of miscalculations on the part of the Soviet authorities: they failed to take into account the scale and consequences of spontaneous migration and to ensure the training of the necessary number of healthcare workers or create conditions to retain them; they also could not balance the rates of industrialization and urbanization with the growth of the maternity care system capacity. Nevertheless, due to the unprecedented nature of the policy of forming territorial and production complexes in such vast territories and unfavorable weather and natural conditions, a conclusion is made about the overall effectiveness of the Soviet model of maternity care during the period under review.