Training Center for child Birth and Health Care in the Tihet AutonomousRegion

　　Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the region was in the shackles of feudal serfdom, with a backward economy that left most serfs and slaves in extreme poverty. There was no medical care, and the average life span was only 35.5 years. The lives of Tibetan women was most miserable. They were called "Jimai", mean-ing the most degraded. They had no human rights, and their lives were merely worth one straw rope, according to ancient Tibetan legal code.
　　At that time, serf and slave women had to work hard even when pregnant. For historical reasons, traditional discrimination against women continued. Those in pastoral areas had to give birth outside of the tents even in a howling wind and violent snowstorm. In some areas, women could only give births in cow or sheep sheds due to the old idea that childbirth was IY~~~ytY In such unsanitary conditions, the health of lying-in women and the life of new-born babies were greatly affected. Infant mortality in old Tibet went as high as 430 per 1,000. The figure decreased to 55.21 per 1,000 in 1998 thanks to the develop-ment of health care and sanitation after the re-gion was liberated. The death rate of pregnant or lying-in women has also declined greatly. It is a big progress, but still far behind the national level. The key to improvement, therefore, lies in en-forcement of the region's childbirth health and scientific birth and improvement of the nurses and doctors' quality.
　　The training center, financed by the former State Planning Commission, includes classrooms for training, teaching and research, meeting room, dining hall and students' dormitory, with a total building area of 3,449 square meters. Equipment for all kinds of work and other necessary facili-ties were also purchased.
　　Work started on April 22,1995, and fin-ished eight months later. The center now plays an important role in guiding Tibetan women's childbirth and improving the entire quality of the Tibetan race.