Skip to main content
NCBI home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1996 Jun;86(6):870–878. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.6.870

Prematurity as a public health problem: US policy from the 1920s to the 1960s.

G M Oppenheimer 1
PMCID: PMC1380410  PMID: 8659665

Abstract

During the 1920s and 1930s, a number of physicians created model premature infant stations in select hospitals, arguing that medicine could successfully treat premature infants, most of whom could be expected to live normal lives. Most hospitals and doctors, however, remained indifferent to the special medical needs of premature infants. Subsequently, public health officials, beginning in Chicago, took up the cause of the medical management of newborn premature infants, defining the problem and finding the resources for a community-wide solution. The latter included multiple, high-quality premature nurseries, infant transport, regionalization, and public financing. The "Chicago model" was adapted by many state and municipal departments of health, particularly after World War II, to create community-based programs, the largest of which was in New York City. As premature infant care became of greater interest to pediatricians and hospitals, in part because of the success achieved by public health officials, the earlier, prominent role of the latter was increasingly diminished and historically forgotten.

Full text

PDF
870

Images in this article

872p872-a
on p.872
873p873-a
on p.873
874p874-a
on p.874

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baker J. P. The incubator controversy: pediatricians and the origins of premature infant technology in the United States, 1890 to 1910. Pediatrics. 1991 May;87(5):654–662. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Davies D. P. The first feed of low birthweight infants. Changing attitudes in the twentieth century. Arch Dis Child. 1978 Mar;53(3):187–192. doi: 10.1136/adc.53.3.187. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Frankel L. K. THE PRESENT STATUS OF MATERNAL AND INFANT HYGIENE IN THE UNITED STATES. Am J Public Health (N Y) 1927 Dec;17(12):1209–1217. doi: 10.2105/ajph.17.12.1209-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. LOSTY M. A., ORLOFSKY I., WALLACE H. M. A transport service for premature babies. Am J Nurs. 1950 Jan;50(1):10–12. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. McKay F. L. Massachusetts State Program for the Care of Prematures. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1941 Jan;31(1):72–78. doi: 10.2105/ajph.31.1.72. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Silverman W. A. Incubator-baby side shows (Dr. Martin A. Couney). Pediatrics. 1979 Aug;64(2):127–141. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Stahlman M. T. Newborn intensive care: Success or failure? J Pediatr. 1984 Jul;105(1):162–167. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(84)80386-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Stevens R. "A poor sort of memory": voluntary hospitals and government before the depression. Milbank Mem Fund Q Health Soc. 1982 Fall;60(4):551–584. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WALLACE H. M., BAUMGARTNER L., LOSTY M. A., RICH H. Payment for hospital care of premature infants. Pediatrics. 1953 Oct;12(4):430–442. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. WALLACE H., BAUMGARTNER L. The care of premature infants in New York City. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1949 Jul;39(7):845–853. doi: 10.2105/ajph.39.7.845. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. YANKAUER A., TSCHIDA E., ENGLE M. A., PHANEUF M. Institutes for physicians and nurses in the care of premature infants; an evaluation of five years experience. Pediatrics. 1956 Jul;18(1):95–101. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES