Organised by:
THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN HEALTHCARE HERITAGE HUNT
Jointly organised by KK Women's and Children's Hospital
and National Archives of Singapore
Do you know that KK Hospital (KKH) was the largest maternity hospital in the
world from 1950s to 1970s and even won a place in the Guinness Book of Records
for the largest number of births in a single maternity ward in 1966? Or that
Asia's first In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) Baby was born in KKH in 1983?
To spark national interest in reliving and learning the history and development of healthcare for women and children in Singapore, National Archives of Singapore (NAS) and KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) are jointly organising a non-competitive "Women and Children Healthcare Heritage Hunt" between 3 December 2007 and 30 June 2008.
Join the hunt and share your stories, photographs, documents, audio-visual recordings or any artefacts relating to women and children healthcare in Singapore with us. It could be a pre-war birth document, a mid-wife delivery set, or your personal experiences as a healthcare professional or as a patient. Selected records collected during the hunt can be deposited with NAS and conserved for posterity. These records will be put on NAS' online finding aid, Access to Archives Online, www.a2o.com.sg, which allows users to search and view selected photographs, maps and plans, listen to oral history interview samplers and watch snippets of audio-visual recordings, round the clock. Hence, more Singaporeans can learn about a part of our nation's history that is lesser known, but yet can be closely linked to the hearts of many Singaporeans.
As the custodian of the nation's official records, NAS has built up a collection of archival records on healthcare, since its establishment in 1968. These records include speeches by government officials, posters, photographs and government records on maternal and child healthcare. To date, NAS' Oral History Centre has collected some 250 hours of oral history recordings on the experiences of doctors, midwives and staff of KKH, as well as Singaporeans who gave birth in KKH. This hunt to collect public memories will further enrich NAS' collection on this subject.
As the event is jointly organised as a pre-cursor to NAS' 40th Anniversary celebrations and KKH's 150th Anniversary in 2008, selected contributions from the hunt will be showcased in an exhibition, "History of Women and Children Healthcare in Singapore", and a publication marking KKH's 150th Anniversary.
Period of Hunt
3 December 2007 to 30 June 2008
Rules of the Hunt
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1. This is a non-competitive Hunt. Anyone is eligible for the Hunt. 2. All submissions are to be accompanied by an official form. Forms are available at KKH website http://www.kkh.com.sg and NAS website http://www.nhb.gov.sg/NAS. 3. More than one item may be submitted on an official form. 4. Each item should carry a date and description of the content in not more than 200 words and in any of the four official languages i.e. English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. 5. Submissions to be made to: KK Women's and Children's Hospital or National Archives of Singapore 6. All participants assign the right of reproduction of their items to the Organisers who may use them for exhibitions, publications and extend them for research purposes to researchers and members of the public. Donation of item(s) will be most welcome. 7. All possible care will be taken of the items submitted, but the Organisers assume no responsibility for any loss or damage before, during and after the Hunt. 8. Submission of items signifies the acceptance of the rules of the Hunt. |
Click to download the Hunt Guidelines and Entry Form
Contact Organisers
For any queries, please contact
Snapshots of Maternal and Children Healthcare in Singapore
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Maternal and children healthcare services started in 1907 as registration and treatment centres from which midwives could be sent to deliver babies at home. Three years later, another healthcare programme was introduce to enable trained nurses to conduct house to house visits. In 1927, these services were extended to the rural areas of Singapore. Nurses and midwives had to gain the trust and acceptance of villagers in order to break through their superstitious beliefs, as many had little faith in western medicine. Nurses also had to travel to offshore islands on sampans to provide these services to residents living on the islands. |
Mary Hee, a midwife from 1961 to 1999, recalled the rigours of going for home deliveries. Click here to listen to an extract from her oral history interview. |
 Source: MICA |
 Source: MICA |
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Nursing care was given to mothers in confinement and for a week after childbirth. During these home visits, the nurses taught the new mothers how to take proper care of their babies, such as placing pillows on both sides of the baby to prevent the baby from rolling off the bed and covering the baby with a mosquito net to keep mosquitoes away. They also demonstrated how to bathe the baby properly. |
 Source: MICA |
A baby doll was used in the demonstration of bathing babies.
 Source: MICA |
 Source: School of Nursing |
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Different baby weighing scales were used during the early days. The larger weighing scales were likely used in clinics and hospitals, while the smaller spring weighing scales were probably part of the portable equipment the nurses carried along for their home visits. |
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