The Role of John the Baptist Lalangue in the Development of Croatian Public Health and Midwifery in the Context of Implementation of the Imperial Public Health Law from 1770

Abstract

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 18 th 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.

Obstetrics Anamnesis of the Empress Maria Theresia

“…During the nineteen years of her reproductive age, Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children, which was a rarity at European courts in spite of the then demographic pattern and high birth rate. In collaboration with Gerard van Swieten, the then Monarchy health care consultant and her personal physician, whom she had invited to come from The Netherlands to Vienna, on September 17, 1770, Maria Theresa published Normativum sanitatum , a collection of regulations on health care in the Monarchy, proclaiming the efforts of Maria Theresa and the Vienna Court for healthy offspring and healthy nation ( Maternas curas ) ( 1 , 7 - 10 ).…”

A History of the Midwifery Profession in the Republic of Croatia

“…The Public Health Act set out the conditions for training and required a midwife to pass the examination in front of a doctor (district medical officer) to obtain a work permit. At that time, midwifery could only be practiced by licensed midwives approved for work by district or state physicians or the State Health Commission (Bunijevac et al, 1997;Ćosić, 2016;Fureš et al, 2010;Fureš et al, 2020;Fureš & Jembrih, 2011, 2012Jamnicki Dojmi, 2006Krešić & Rakitičan, 2015;Kuljak & Švaljug, 2016Kurbanović, 2019;. However, even these licensed midwives often had inadequate expertise, and there were not many of them, especially in villages, so that the need for one midwife in each village, or at least one midwife in two or three villages, could not be met, leaving maternal and neonatal mortality extremely high (Krešić & Rakitičan, 2015).…”

“…To carry out the necessary reforms in accordance with the Public Health Act, competent physicians were sent to all the states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. So, Joannis Baptiste Lalangue, a native of Luxembourg, graduated medicine in Vienna and came to Varaždin, the capital of what was then Croatia, in 1772 by imperial decree as magister artis obstetritiae (Fureš et al, 2010(Fureš et al, , 2020Fureš & Jembrih, 2011, 2012. As a physician and district physicist, he began to implement a new organization of health care in line with the Enlightenment ideas of his time (Barić et al, 1996;Bunijevac et al, 1997;Dobrovšak, 2017;Dražančić, 1999aDražančić, , 1999bErceg & Tanaj, 2019;Frković, 2012;Fureš et al, 2010;Fureš & Habek, 2020;Fureš & Jembrih, 2011, 2012Jug, 2016;Jukić & Katušić, 2013;Matotek, 2010;Vađunec, 2009;Zrinski, 2013).…”

“…Joannis Baptiste Lalangue was distinguished by his desire to make his knowledge accessible to the widest possible circle of people. Thus, immediately after his arrival, he devoted himself to training of midwives because he "was moved by the sad fate of many Croatian mothers and children who died during childbirth or became permanently ill due to complications" (Fureš et al, 2010;Fureš & Habek, 2020;Fureš & Jembrih, 2011, 2012. He championed the education of midwives and organized the first midwifery courses in 1776, laying the foundation for the systematic education of midwives in what is now Croatia (Bunijevac et al, 1997;Ćosić, 2016;Ćosić et al, 2015;Dugački, 1976Dugački, , 2003Fureš et al, 2010;Fureš & Habek, 2020;Fureš & Jembrih, 2011, 2012Jug, 2016;Kurbanović, 2019;Puljizević, 2016;Uremović et al, 2006).…”