21st January - the Maternity Care Day – was celebrated by obstetricians and gynecologists at the second largest specialized Gynecological Hospital in Bulgaria - SHOGAT "Prof. Dr. D. Stamatov" - Varna. The medics performed the traditional custom of "washing the midwife's hands". It was carried out by the 10-year-old Kristiana, who washed the hands of the head of the Maternity Ward Dr. Dobrin Nikolov with consecrated by Father Yasen water.
Congratulations to the gynecologists-obstetricians and midwives were addressed by the Executive Director of SHOGAT "Prof. Dr. D. Stamatov" Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emil Kovachev, the Doyen of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Varna Prof. Dr. Ivan Kozovski, the Deputy Mayor of Varna Mr. Kosta Bazitov, the Chairperson of the Health Care Standing Committee Assoc. Prof. Antoaneta Tsvetkova. The Vice-Rector of MU-Varna Prof. Dr. Albena Kerekovska presented greetings on behalf of the Rector Prof. Dr. Krasimir Ivanov and gave as a gift an icon to protect the medics, mothers and their offspring. The head of the Department of Health Care Assoc. Prof. Silvia Borisova congratulated the team of the hospital on behalf of the Faculty of Public Health.
Kids from kindergarten "Detska Radost" (Children's Joy) and students from the dance ensemble of MU-Varna congratulated the doctors and midwives with a short programme.
The museum specialists from the Museum of the History of Medicine, in cooperation with the Department of Health Care at the Faculty of Public Health, arranged an exhibition, entitled
"Babinden (Midwife's Day) - Traditions and Future", dedicated to the specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology and their predecessors – the grandmothers-midwives. It is situated in the Library of MU-Varna and will remain there until 3 February. The exhibition presents photographs from the early XX c., which carry the visitors into the joyful and rich in symbolism celebrations, organized both in the past and nowadays, and the "old wives' necklaces" made of popcorn, dried peppers and beans, with which people used to adorn the grandmothers-midwives.
There are special sites in the lobby of the main building of the University and at the Medical College, where on multimedia screens visitors can observe moments from the daily work of the students and their lecturers from the Department of Health Care.
The students and lecturers from the Shumen Affiliate of MU-Varna also celebrated the holiday, performing the traditional customs of that day for a second consecutive year. The celebration was attended by representatives of the local government and the medical institutions in the city. The future midwives from the Affiliates in Sliven and Veliko Tarnovo celebrated the holiday at the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the hospitals in the respective cities, where they greeted the medical specialists who are in charge of their clinical practice.
