in the USSR, an establishment providing qualified medical care to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium. Treatment of gynecologic ailments is available, as is medical care for newborns from the moment of birth until discharge.

The maternity home is one of the basic links in the system of obstetric care. Sick women and newborns are isolated from those who are in good health. Gynecologic consultation is available, and there is a hospital. The principal departments of the hospital are reception and registration, the physiological obstetrics department, the department for pathological pregnancies, the observation obstetrics department (for pregnant women with infectious diseases), and a gynecologic department. Rooms for newborns are located in both of the obstetrics departments.

In order to lower maternal and infant mortality, special maternity homes have been established for women anticipating premature birth and women suffering from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or Rh-incompatibility. Kolkhoz maternity homes, which are maintained and supported by kolkhozes, have been set up for women with presumably normal pregnancies.