Universitätspublikationen
Refine
Document Type
- Article (2)
Language
- English (2) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (2)
Keywords
- Croatia (2) (remove)
Institute
- Medizin (2) (remove)
Introduction: This study reports about antenatal characteristics of Roma minority population. The study was designed to investigate data about health behaviours known to be associated with reproductive outcomes of Roma women that have very good living conditions and relatively high resource availability.
Methods: A retrospective study included 204 Roma and 408 non-Roma hospitalised singleton births that occurred in the Maternity Ward of the General Hospital Virovitica in the period from 1991 to 2010. Data about women’s age, marital status, smoking, reproductive health (abortions, delivery), antenatal care, perinatal complications and gestational age were taken from hospital records and analysed.
Results: Roma women were averagely more than three years younger than non-Roma women, only 10.8% were married. Smoking was more frequent. The average number of births of Roma and non-Roma women was similar, averagely two children per woman. The rate of induced abortions in the Roma women was higher, while the frequency of spontaneous abortions was equal. Inadequate antenatal care of Roma women was associated with two times higher incidence of perinatal complications. A higher frequency of deliveries at home without professional assistance in Roma pregnancy resulted in lower perinatal outcomes. It was confirmed that Roma mothers give birth earlier (38+6 vs. 39+4 weeks) and have a higher incidence of premature births (9.3% vs. 2.2%).
Conclusions: In the comparison of antenatal parameters between the two researched groups, poorer prenatal outcomes in the Roma population were found, despite full integration and considerable improvement in living standards of this ethnic Roma population.
To understand the development of public health in Croatia, there are newer insights into the life and work of John the Baptist Lalangue. John the Baptist Lalangue is most valued for implementation of the imperial law on public health and promotion of midwifery in Croatia during the second half of the 18th century. Lalangue is the author of the first printed medical textbook in Croatian, published in 1776, entitled Medicina ruralis iliti Vrachtva ladanyszka, za potrebochu musev, y sziromakov Horvatczkoga orszaga y okolu nyega, blisnesseh mest, Trattnern, Varaždin. In the same period, Lalangue published the first Croatian midwifery textbook entitled Brevis institute de reobstetritia iliti kratek navuk od mestrie pupkorezne za potrebochu muskeh y sziromaskeh ladanovskaya horvatskoga orszaga y okolo nyega blisnesseh sztrankih, Trattnern, Zagreb. In 1779, Lalangue published his balneological debut in Croatian, the book Tractatus de aquis medicati Regnorum Croatiae et Slavoniae Iliti Izpiszavanye vrachtvenih vod Horvatzkoga y Slavonskoga orszaga y od nachina nye vsivati za potrebochu lyudih, Trattnern, Zagreb. Lalangue’s works were used in systematic training and education of midwives and they, as well as Lalangue, have an inevitable place in the history of Croatian midwifery. During his life and work, John the Baptist Lalangue made immeasurable contribution to the development of Croatian public health.