An Analysis Of The Children’s Hospitals In Victorian Britain

The Victorian era(1837-1901)witnessed remarkable development and changes of economy,politics and society,which was also one of the most glorious periods in the history of Britain.British hospitals developed rapidly in the nineteenth century,and a variety of specialized hospitals emerged in the meantime.As the major institution of child medical care and nursing,chidren’s hospitals were opened in many European countries during the first half of the nineteenth century.However,it was not until the mid-19th century that began the first special hospital for sick children in Britain.Children’s doctors,hospital administrators and social reformers elevated child health as a national issue,attempting to reduce child disease and mortality through charitable paediatric hospitals.During the Victorian period,children’s hospitals were sites for both the medicalization of children’s bodies as well as a place for the moralization of the working classes.In this paper,children’s hospitals in Victorian society were investigated and analyzed in a broad social background,in order to understand the social attention and thinking on childhood,children disease and health problems,and how opposition to children’s hospitals was turned into support. M.eanwhile,exploring the characteristics of children’s hospitals and social reality and cultural values reflected,this paper mirrors the development of medical progress and society,and its impact on children’s health and child welfare.This dissertation consists of four parts:introduction,main body,conclusion and references.The introduction part briefly mentions the reasons and importance of this selected topic,present situation of academic research at home and abroad as well as the value and significance of this topic.The text of main body is made up of four chapters.The first chapter analyzes the social background of the rise of children’s hospitals in Victorian era.At the first place,in the first half of the 19th century,living environment and medical condition of sick children gained public attention,eapecially the poor children.With the emergence of a new understanding of the nature of child and childhood,the social values of children attached great importance.Thirdly,in terms of new changes in medical knowledge and technology,the rise of specialized hospitals and the influence of public health campaigns,more and more hospitals were opened to provide medical care for children.Moverover,philanthropy contributed the establishment of children’s hospitals as well.Chapter Two is about the foundations and development of children’s hospitals in the UK during the Victorian era.The advancement of child medical institutions evolved from foundling hospitals,dispensaries and infirmaries to specialized hospitals.Great Ormond Street Hospital in London was the first British paediatric hospital.According to its general missions,the GOSH aimed to improve the health of the capital’s poor,ailing children and offer medical advice to those who were not admitted to the institution;to advance the medical sicience and train special nurses dedicated to child care.In the second half of the nineteenth century,this hospital gradually enlarged facilities with convalescent branches.After the opening of GOSH,many other similar institutions that dedicated to treatment of children were soon founded across the country.Chapter Three takes Great Ormond Street Hospital in London as an example,mainly examining the medical taff,treatment and nursing,institutions and management in children’s hospitals.The first segment is about the appointment and training of the doctors and nurses,treatment and care provided in hospital.The second segment introduces the institutions and management,particularly about the methods of fundraising.Life in children’s hospital was divided into different experience of outpatients and inpatients.The third segment mainly presented daily life of hospitalized patients,ward environment,visitors and parental visits.The last chapter focuses on characteristics of children’s hospitals in Victorian period.First of all,as other voluntary hospitals during this time,middle-class values——for instance,family values,moral concepts and cleaning——exerted influence on daily management and patients life in children’s hospitals.Middle-class women educated nurses,children and their mothers by means of visiting.In the process of treatment and management,there were three major kinds of contradictions:physicians and managers,nursing staff and ladys visitors,parents and hospital.Besides,in spite of the existence of children’s hospitals in Victorian era,British pediatric medicine developed slowly in these institutions.On the one hand,social ideas at that time hindered the advancement of pediatric research in some way.On the other hand,medical specialization was still in infancy,so professional pediatricians and paediatrics did not receive enough attention from the medical profession.The conclusion gives further generalization and summarization of the previous chapters.As a special child medical institution,although the treatment provided was limited,children’s hospitals in Victorian era played a significant role in promoting and diffusing the advancement of medical science generally with reference to childhood diseases and health knowledge;providing hospital care and nursing for sick children;training professional nurses and educating the working class.In short,what this dissertation wants to discuss about is,children’s hospitals was an inevitable trend of children medicine in the nineteenth century,which also demonstrated that British society attached great importance to children’s physical health and welfare.