Читать книгу Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women онлайн

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In 1960 Margot opened her private practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology. It was a time of many changes in medicine such as antibiotics, birth control pills, and air conditioning in the operating room. Her first patient was a nurse that knew Margot from her hospital internship. Other nurses and female hospital attendants, as well as their female friends and family members, became the base of her fledgling practice. The new wave of feminism at that time also brought women to her door, saying “we feel more comfortable with a woman physician, she understands us better than a man.” Young women who previously never went for physical examinations before becoming pregnant were now coming for prescription of birth control pills. Also, abortions became legal to perform in New York so gynecologists were able to help their own patients rather than send them to Geneva or Puerto Rico and one saw less infections resulting from improperly performed illegal abortions. “I averaged about two deliveries a week and one or two major operations. I enjoyed my profession and my patients. Besides the physical examination I felt it equally important to talk with the patient and to give her a chance to ask questions.”