Child care nurses and the fight against maternal and child morbidity and mortality. Valencia before the health transition

Abstract

Public health was a major problem in late 19th century Spain, and maternal and infant morbidity and mortality presented very high rates. At the turn of the century, health care began to undergo a transformation as a series of health policies and initiatives were proposed to end the socially unacceptable blight of maternal and infant mortality. Thus, child protection laws and regulations were enacted, maternity insurance was introduced and professionalisation processes occurred which in the case of nurses and midwives proved fundamental in improving social and health indicators. Here, we report the results of a case study of the city of Valencia and the role played by nurses in institutions such as the infant nursery, the infant milk depot and the school of child care. our analysis indicates the extent to which child care nursing became institutionalised in Spain, in line with the rest of Europe, and the role played by these nurses in tackling many of the causes and factors involved in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in Spain in general and Valencia in particular.