The wonder of a new life – midwifery in Koroška in 20th century

Uvod: Porodne pomočnice so delovale že od davnine, babištvo pa je verjetno eden od najstarejših ženskih poklicev. Za babico so bile po vsej verjetnosti izbrane starejše ženske z več izkušnjami. Sodobne babice so strokovno izobražene porodne pomočnice. Namen: Namen diplomske naloge je orisati zgodovino babištva v 20. stoletju na Slovenskem s prikazom življenja poklicnih babic, strokovne usposobljenosti in znanja ter hkrati predstaviti izbran primer poklicne poti babice Tilke Kramer. Metode dela: Pri raziskovanju smo uporabili deskriptivno metodopregledali strokovno literaturo s področja zgodovine babištva in porodništva na Slovenskem v dvajsetem stoletju, kot dodatno pa uporabili babiške dnevnike, zapisana pričevanja babic ter drugo dokumentarno gradivo. Uporabili smo tudi kvalitativno metodo študije primera, ki smo jo izvedli na podlagi poglobljenega intervjuja z izbrano koroško babico Tilko Kramer in njenega osebnega dokumentarnega gradiva. Rezultati: Pred uvedbo strokovnega izobraževanja za babice se je babiško poslanstvo prenašalo prek ženskih sorodstvenih povezav. Tradicionalno učenje s spremljanjem in navzočnostjo pri porodih se je začelo spreminjati s profesionalizacijo, torej s šolanjem babic, z izpiti in pridobitvami licenc za babiško delo. Gospa Tilka Kramer je delovala v babiškem poklicu štirideset let in pol in sodi v generacijo babic, ki so sredi dvajsetega stoletja še delovale kot terenske babice, nato pa se je njihovo delovišče preselilo v porodnišnice in zdravstvene domove. Strokovno znanje za babiški poklic si je pridobila s šolanjem v Ljubljani. V času šolanja je živela v internatu, kjer je bilo potrebno poleg praktičnega in teoretičnega učenja tudi trdo poprijeti za delo. Preden je lahko pričela delovati kot samostojna babica, je morala voditi osemdeset porodov. Poklic babice in medicinske sestre je opravljala v Dravogradu. Razprava in zaključek: Gospa Tilka Kramer izpostavlja pomembnost timskega dela in sodelovanja z drugimi zdravstvenimi strokovnjaki. Ker se je srečevala z ženskami več generacij v isti družini, je bilo še posebej pomembno, da je vzpostavljala in ohranjala njihovo zaupanje. Za uresničevanje babiškega poklica v njegovem temeljnem pomenu – torej kot »dela z žensko«, je potrebno znanje in spretnosti prilagoditi vsaki posamezni ženski in njenemu otrokukar je v institucionalnem okviru poseben izziv.Introduction: Some types of maternity assistants have been working since ancient times, but midwifery is probably one of the oldest women\u27s occupations. Older women with more experience were probably chosen for the midwife. Modern midwives are professionally educated labor assistants. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to outline the history of midwifery in the 20th century in Slovenia by presenting professional life of midwives, professional skills and knowledge and at the same time presenting the chosen example of the professional career of midwife Tilka Kramer. Methods of work:Two methods were used in the research. With the descriptive method, we examined the professional literature in the field of obstetrics and obstetrics history in Slovenia in the twentieth century, as well as the use midwifery logs, written testimonies of midwives and other documentary material. We also used a qualitative method of studying the case, which was carried out on the basis of an in-depth interview with selected Carinthian midwife Tilko Kramer and her personal documentary material. Results: Before the introduction of professional education for midwives, the midwife\u27s mission was transmitted through female family relationships. Traditional learning with monitoring and attendance at childbirth began to change with professionalisation, that is, through the education of midwives, exams and the acquisition of licenses for midwifery. Mrs Tilka Kramer worked as a midwife for forty and a half years and belongs to the generation of midwives who in the middle of the twentieth century still acted as field midwives, and then their workplace moved to maternity hospitals and health centers. She gained her professional knowledge in the midwife\u27s profession by studying in Ljubljana. During her schooling, she lived in a boarding school, where, in addition to practical and theoretical learning, she had to work hard. Before she could start acting as an independent midwife, she had to lead eighty births. The midwife and nurse\u27s occupation was performed in Dravograd. Discussion and conclusion: Mrs Tilka Kramer highlights the importance of team work and cooperation with other health professionals. Because she met with several generations of women in the same family, it was particularly important to establish and maintain their trust. In order to realize the profession of a midwife in its fundamental sense - that is, as "working with a woman," it is necessary to adapt knowledge and skills to each individual woman and her childwhich is a special challenge in the institutional framework