Conversion of the Concept of Medicine and Hygiene in the Context of Women's Journalism: Examination of Midwifery and Nursemaiding in Qajar and Pahlavi the First Era

Development of a new attitude towards hygiene and medicine during the Qajar period required attention to various issues, including the hygiene of women and children. Political activists and thinkers considered the modern hygiene and medicine through corrective actions and critique of the dominant discourse of traditional medicine. In the late Qajar period and with the boom of journalism, these actions became more serious and led to the critique of the dominant discourse on hygiene and medicine at two levels. At the first level, attention was paid to the causes of common diseases and nutrition among women and children, and at the second level, the impact of women's unawareness on daily hygienic issues and their attention to superstitions was questioned. The audiences of second level were midwives and nursemaids. In this research, the role of these two categories of women in the medical discourse of this period has been examined. Finding of this research indicate that critiques on midwives and nursemaids’ unawareness of new hygiene and medicine along with some actions were made to modernize hygiene and medicine caused the gradual passing of traditional midwifery which led to the emergence of modern midwifery. In the meanwhile nursemaids have lost their role in modern discourse of medicine.