3.4 Maternal and child health

ational a rchives of Korea © n

Q WHO supported the training of nurses and midwives and engaged in planning of maternal and child health services.

The promotion of maternal and child health (MCH) was one of the core functions of WHO, especially in the Western Pacific Region in the 1950s. In cooperation with UNICEF, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific supported almost every Member State in training nurses and midwives (5).

The Regional Office dispatched MCH experts and nurses to the Republic of Korea in 1950, supplied delivery kits for midwives in 1955 and 1956, and supported the training of human resources for MCH by selecting fellowship students in MCH and children’s rehabilitation in 1956 and 1957. From 1956 to 1960, the Regional Office offered training to midwives under the support of the United States International Communication Agency. According to a USOM report on the Republic of Korea’s health services, Dugald Baird, a WHO adviser for paediatric nurses and midwives, was engaged in planning the country’s support for MCH services by the Office of the Economic Coordinator. Through such multifaceted efforts, the numbers of midwives and nurses in the Republic of Korea significantly increased during this period, laying the foundation for the development of systematic MCH services.

In addition, USOM dispatched a former Chicago School of Nursing professor to train midwives, while the Gaejeong Research Institute of Health, headed by Lee Kyung-chun, took the lead in providing education in the rural areas. Moreover, the Central Nursing Institute took the initiative in educating leaders on MCH and public health, and those who completed the course devoted themselves to MCH and occupational health services in remote areas throughout the country such as Sabuk, a coal-mining town, and Geoje Island (10).