Domestic Issues for Mothers in Village Russia
Childcare, Domestic Violence, and Pregnancy Aged Women Prematurely
Jul 27, 2008
During the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Russian village mothers endured primitive birthing methods, had to provide for family and children, worked the fields from morning till night, and endured physical abuse from husbands.
Birth control and contraceptives were almost unheard of in rural Russian villages, which meant that a woman might be pregnant for many of her fertile years. Pregnancies could end in miscarriages or children delivered too weak to survive – in fact, infant mortality was so high the government felt it necessary to try to implement pronatal policies to help improve live birth rates across Russia.
Labor and delivery often took place in the field, during work hours, or in a barn, with only the help of a midwife or village grandmother. Difficult births might lead to the death of the mother. If the mother survived the unhygienic, unforgiving conditions of delivery, she would return to field work within three to five days.
Childcare and Providing for Family
Childcare took place in the hours before and after work in the field. In the hours between, children were left to fend for themselves. Older siblings (but not much older) would watch over infants and babies. After the mother came home from field work, she would prepare a meal for children and husband, attend to livestock, and complete any other chores necessary.
Work
Field work was backbreaking and sapped a mother's strength. While women in rural villages were used to hard work under a hot sun, they were often too exhausted to properly care for children upon return home. Hard work coupled with birthing and childcare took its toll on mothers in Russian villages. Olga Semyonova Tian-Shanskayia, the author of Village Life in Tsarist Russia remarks, “Women age fast as far as their looks are concerned” (pg. 97).
In rural villages, it was expected that men should beat their wives. Alcoholic, frustration, exhaustion, and a centuries-old precedent meant that husbands found plenty of excuses to beat their wives. Even though women did their share of the work (and then some), mothers of Russian villages were regularly abused. This abuse was not limited to women, however. Children were susceptible to the wrath of adults and animals were hit or kicked by their owners.
References
Ransel, David L. Village Mothers: Three Generations of Change in Russia and Tartaria. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
Semyonovova Tian-Shanskaia, Olga. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, ed. David L. Ransel, trans. David L. Ransel and Micahel Levine. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
