Kontakt 2022, 24(3):219-224 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2022.014

Promoting diversity and national minority education in midwifery and nursing in the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938): A historical analysisNursing - Original article

Martin Červený1, *, Valérie Tóthová1, Lukáš Novotný2, Inka Kratochvílová1, Věra Hellerová1, Andrej Tóth3
1 University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Emergency Care, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
2 University of West Bohemia, Faculty of Arts, Plzeň, Czech Republic
3 Prague University of Economics and Business, Faculty of International Relations, Department of International and Diplomatic Studies and Faculty of Economics, Department of Economic History, Prague, Czech Republic

Introduction: The independent Czechoslovak state, established in 1918, had to cope with the multi-ethnic aspect of its many areas. Only 65% of the population belonged to the state that made up the Czechoslovak nation; the rest were national minorities, most of whom were Germans (24%). The multi-ethnic aspect of the state affected all aspects of state life, including health care and medical education.

Aim: The aim of this study was a historical analysis of contemporary primary and secondary sources dealing with the issue of education of national minorities in selected non-medical professions in the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (during the 1920s).

Methods: Historical data were collected in the archives of Most, Děčín, Karlovy Vary, Opava, Cheb, Košice-Rožňava selected monastic archives, the National Archives, and the Kramerius digital library of the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Results: The new Czechoslovak Republic made it possible for members of the national minority to receive full training in midwifery and nursing in their native language, thus ensuring full linguistic access to midwifery and nursing care.

Conclusions: Midwifery education in the First Czechoslovak Republic was conducted in Czech, Slovak, German and Hungarian, at separate midwifery schools. In the case of nursing education, even more space was offered to members of the national minority, mainly thanks to private order nursing schools.

Keywords: Czechoslovak Republic; Education; Midwifery; Minority; Nursing
Grants and funding:

This paper is a partial result of the solution of the scientific project with registration number 20-09470S “Health system of the First Czechoslovak Republic in the context of its national and social composition – center vs. periphery” supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Received: January 12, 2022; Revised: January 12, 2022; Accepted: April 29, 2022; Prepublished online: May 11, 2022; Published: October 5, 2022  Show citation

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Červený M, Tóthová V, Novotný L, Kratochvílová I, Hellerová V, Tóth A. Promoting diversity and national minority education in midwifery and nursing in the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938): A historical analysis. Kontakt. 2022;24(3):219-224. doi: 10.32725/kont.2022.014.
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