The history of the Journal of Obstetrics and Women’s Diseases (to the 135th anniversary of the first issue and the 25th anniversary of the revived edition)

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The 25th anniversary of the resumption of publication and the 135th anniversary of the first issue of the Journal of Obstetrics and Women’s Diseases in Russia was held on October 19, 2022, in the auditorium of the Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology named after D.O. Ott of St. Petersburg and the North-West region of Russia, with the participation of representatives of the Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Obstetricians–gynecologists from St. Petersburg, doctors from other specialties, and public representatives gathered in the assembly hall. After the opening of the meeting, the president of the society, Professor M.I. Yarmolinskaya, gave the floor to Professor E.K. Ailamazyan who is the vice president of the Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, editor-in-chief of Journal of Obstetrics and Women’s Diseases (JOWD), academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and honored scientist of the Russian Federation. He briefly discussed the inseparable history of the scientific society and JOWD, the noteworthy role in the formation and development of obstetrics and gynecology of the founder of Russian scientific obstetrics, academician A.Ya. Krassovsky, together with his associates and students, K.F. Slavyansky and D.O. Ott. In collaboration with E.K. Ailamazyan and I.G. Rodin, Professor E.F. Kira, an honored worker of Science of the Russian Federation, wrote a report on the history of the formation and development of JOWD.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia was experiencing a major economic boom, with railroad construction, industrialization, agricultural mechanization, and unprecedented harvests. However, the Russian Empire at the time lacked a well-developed transportation infrastructure. The telegraph was the fastest mode of communication, and the telephone had just recently been invented, so newspapers, magazines, and books — in other words, printed matter — were the primary sources of information. This is how an utterly exceptional situation evolved, resulting in the creation of the first Russian JOWD.

The journal’s origin, development, and current condition are full of remarkable information, occasionally drama-filled. Academician Anton Yakovlevich Krassovsky (Figure 1) and Professor Kronid Fedorovich Slavyansky (Figure 2) were two outstanding representatives of Russian science in obstetrics and gynecology in the second half of the 19th century who came up with the idea for the first Russian journal on obstetrics and gynecology. “It is necessary for the society to have its own printed organ, such as a collection or journal, in which would be placed not only the works of the society but also the general works of domestic figures on obstetrics and gynecology, as well as abstracts of both Russian and foreign works. We sincerely hope that local and foreign members will not refuse us their cooperation in this matter,” Academician A.Ya. Krassovsky, who, along with Professor K.F. Slavyansky and Associate Professor I.I. Smolsky, became the first editors of this publication [1, 2], welcomed readers in the first issue of the journal.

 

Fig. 1. Academician Anton Ya. Krassovsky

 

Fig. 2. Professor Kronid F. Slavyansky

 

The JOWD became a significant publication that allowed doctors in even the most remote parts of Russia to stay up-to-date on new technologies and events and obtain the most up-to-date information on scientific developments in obstetrics and gynecology. This is evidenced by the advanced articles of those years, many of which were useful then.

The trial issue of the magazine was published on December 11, 1886. Unfortunately, it did not survive, and it is difficult to envision what it looked like and what materials were published in it today, more than 135 yr later. However, the first volume of the JOWD was published a year later, in 1887, to the scientific medical community. The importance of this historical event cannot be overstated. This volume identified the future unseen connection between obstetricians and gynecologists of the past and present (Figure 3). Several issues addressed in the first articles remain as important today as they were at the end of the 19th century. There are several articles about surgical gynecology as follows:

• “To the question of removal of bilateral parovarian cysts” by N.V. Yastrebov;
• “A case of successful cure of complete uterine prolapse by surgery: abbreviation ligamentorum rotundorum uteri” by I.V. Ryasintsev;
• “Laparotomia for the purpose of removing echinococci from the abdominal cavity (laparo-echinococcotomia) performed by A.Ya. Krassovsky” by I.F. Smolensky;
• “To the question of congenital sleeve infections and the methods of their surgical treatment” by V.V. Sutugin; and
• “Eleven cases of complete removal through the vagina of a carcino-transformed uterus” by D.O. Ott.

 

Fig. 3. Title page of the journal (No. 1, 1887)

 

The introduction of the findings of L. Pasteur, J. Lister, and R. Koch owes a lot to the progress of operational gynecology. As a result, the articles by P.K. Bolshesolsky, Mercury dioiodide as desinficiens in laparotomy and 11 laparotomies performed by A.Ya. Krassovsky using mercury dioiodide as an antiseptic agent and Antisepsis in private obstetric practice by A.S. Khazan resonated and were essential in promoting the ideas of asepsis and antisepsis in Russia.

Many articles focused on conservative therapy methods for miscarriages, trachoma pudendum, and other case studies. Articles by N.N. Phenomenov (“Toward the Question of Methods of Stopping Uterine Bleeding), I.P. Lazarevich (“Newly Improved Direct Parallel Forceps”), and I.O. Danilovich (“A Case of Caesarian Section in the St. Petersburg Maternity Hospital Operated by the Conservative Method of A.Ya. Krassovsky”) were included in the obstetric subject block.

The JOWD began publishing monthly, or 12 issues per year, 3 yr after the first issue. The journal was the primary source of scientific and practical information on obstetrics and gynecology across the vast territory of the Russian Empire until the October Revolution of 1917. The articles mainly described individual, often casuistic, clinical observations, but not infrequently. There were also extensive reports on the activity of obstetric facilities, which served as the forerunner of modern analytical reviews and statistical results of obstetric and gynecological treatment. Reports from gynecological sections of Russian doctors’ congresses, the St. Petersburg Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Russia, were continually updated. In addition, the JOWD published distinguished professors and zemstvo doctors, obstetricians, and gynecologists from the provinces. All of this testified to the newly printed organ’s practical orientation.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the JOWD was published as an organ of the St. Petersburg (Petrograd) Obstetrics and Gynecology Society. The journal was well-known not only in Russia at the time but also overseas, as evidenced by its publication in French (Figure 4). For 30 yr, the magazine, like a raised sail filled with wind, carried the ship of knowledge to the remote parts of Russia to “sow the reasonable, the good, the eternal.” The journal flourished amid Russia’s blooming of obstetric and gynecological science in 1917. Professor A.A. Redlich is the editor of the JOWD. It is impossible not to note the geographical diversity of the authors: contributions to the publications of those years were made on several occasions by well-known Russian academicians, such as I.N. Grammaticati (Tomsk), V.S. Gruzdev (Kazan), A.P. Gubarev (Moscow), A.I. Zamshin (Petrograd), N.M. Kakushkin (Saratov), S.D. Mikhnov (Yuriev), A.A. Muratov (Kiev), and V.N. Orlov (Odessa).

 

Fig. 4. Front page of the journal in French (1917)

 

When World War I broke out in 1914, there were specific problems with the journal’s publication due to the wartime’s socioeconomic and political circumstances. Nevertheless, interruptions in paper supply, changes in publishing standards, censorship of any printed works, the revolutionary spirit of the masses, and many other problems did not affect the journal’s ongoing publication. They did not diminish its scientific and practical significance.

However, the dreadful revolutionary days arrived, and only two combined issues were published in 1917. The publication of the magazine was suspended for 4 yr due to the civil war. Its regular issues were resumed in 1922, increasing from two (1922–1923) to eight (1928–1931) issues per year. During these years, the JOWD re-established itself as the primary source of information for the USSR’s large community of obstetricians and gynecologists.

Simultaneously, in 1922, on the initiative of the renowned obstetrician–gynecologist Professor A.P. Gubarev, a new journal, Gynecology and Obstetrics, was created in Moscow, eventually becoming the country’s main printed organ dealing with this field. A report was published in the sixth issue of this journal for 1935:

“Since January 1936, the journals Moscow Gynecology and Obstetrics and Leningrad JOWD merged into one under the title Obstetrics and Gynecology. The journal will be published monthly in eight printed sheets per issue and produced in Moscow. I.L. Braude, M.S. Malinovsky, and K.K. Skrobansky were appointed as responsible editors.”

JOWD ceased to exist as an independent printed organ of the St. Petersburg Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (Petrograd, Leningrad) half a century after the first trial issue (1886).

The last issue of the Leningrad magazine was published in 1935, with a tiny advertisement:

“For the information of subscribers, the JOWD has merged with the Moscow journal Gynecology and Obstetrics and will be published in an expanded form under the title Obstetrics and Gynecology.” The responsible editors are Professor I.L. Braude (Moscow), Honored Scientist M.S. Malinovsky (Moscow), and Professor K.K. Skrobansky (Leningrad).”

The reason for the amalgamation of obstetric and gynecological journals in Leningrad and Moscow is unlikely to be revealed. It is possible that the aggressive centralization of state government in the capital persisted throughout these years, affecting medical publications.

In March 1936, a solemn scientific conference commemorated the 50th anniversary of Russia’s first scientific obstetrical and gynecological society, the Leningrad Scientific Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. The editorial board of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology honored the Leningrad Obstetrics and Gynecology Society on its 50th anniversary and devoted an entire journal issue to it in No. 1 for 1936. Professor D.A. Glebov’s leading article, “The Role and Tasks of Scientific Societies in the Health Care System,” focused on the importance of scientific societies, particularly the first obstetrical and gynecological society, in the health care system and the improvement of professional training for Russian physicians.

The idea of reviving the JOWD has long been in the thoughts of Leningrad obstetricians and gynecologists. Professor E.F. Kira reported on preparations for the revival of the journal at a meeting of the Board of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region in 1996. The association’s board unanimously resolved to restore and register the journal under its former name. Many members of the association did not expect the journal to be revived at the time. The 1990s were challenging due to a lack of funds for food and medicine. The board of the society concluded that without financial support, such an undertaking as the production of the journal would be impossible. Everything was decided by chance. The student commercial organization “Yablochko SO” (founders I.G. Rodin and V.I. Stepchenkov), with which the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had been collaborating for several years, took over the duties and responsibilities for funding the journal’s initial issues.

The first issue of the new version of the JOWD was published in 1997, after a 60-yr hiatus (due to the merging of the Leningrad and Moscow journals; Figure 5).

 

Fig. 5. Title page of the journal (1997)

 

“Before You is the first issue of the relaunched JOWD, said Professor E.K. Ailamazyan, chairman of the St. Petersburg Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in 1997. Eduard Karpovich, speaking about the journal’s role and significance of the journal in the formation of the St. Petersburg Obstetricians and Gynecologists, stated that the decision of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region to support the journal’s revival was not intended to simply repeat the previous experience:

“We do this in the hope that our journal will help to restore and strengthen the spiritual connection with the great representatives of the illustrious St. Petersburg school of obstetrician–gynecologists that it will become a golden link connecting the traditions and achievements of classical obstetric–gynecological science, and that it will work for the future.”

These statements were prophetic, and the JOWD became Russia’s leading journal.

In the preface to the first issue of the journal, published in 1997, I.G. Rodin wrote:

“… it is with great pleasure that we have joined the process of reviving the JOWD, a St. Petersburg journal with a long history and traditions. … We believe that, as before, the journal will reflect the best achievements in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductology and allow our medical colleagues to stay up-to-date on the most recent scientific news.”

By unanimous decision of the Board of the St. Petersburg Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Professor E.F. Kira, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy, became the first editor-in-chief of the revived JOWD. The first editorial board included prominent obstetricians and gynecologists from St. Petersburg and Moscow, including corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) Professor E.K. Ailamazyan (St. Petersburg), Professor V.N. Serov (Moscow), Professor V.I. Krasnopolsky (Moscow), Professor V.P. Baskakov, Professor Yu.A. Gurkin, Professor I.I. Evsyukova, Professor V.V. Potin, Professor M.A. Repina, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yu.V. Tsvelev (St. Petersburg), and Professor V.P. Smetnik (Moscow).

The articles in the first issue of the renewed journal focused on the most topical issues of obstetrics and gynecology. According to Professor Yu.V. Tsvelev’s article in the JOWD, “Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow”:

“… after 110 yr, like a Phoenix, the JOWD is revived and republished. This demonstrates a consistency, the core of which is found in the vast scientific potential and authority of the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. … Let us hope that the journal’s editorial board will be able to fully preserve its wonderful traditions. On the pages of the journal, we will see the works of numerous specialists who are all working toward the same goal: to serve the woman and protect her health.

More has to be said about this remarkable man. Yuri Vladimirovich played a significant role in the formation and development of the journal. Professor Yu.V. Tsvelev was the permanent deputy editor-in-chief of the journal and led the column “Pages of the history of obstetrics and gynecology” throughout his career. He wrote excellent articles, such as “To the 115th Anniversary of the St. Petersburg Obstetrics and Gynecology Society” (2001) and “The First Obstetric Journal of Russia (to the 120th anniversary of the founding of the JOWD (2007), and articles about Russian obstetrics and gynecology science the titans — A.Ya. Krassovsky, K.F. Slavyansky, D.O. Ott, N.N. Fenomenov, K.K. Skrobansky, Muscovites A.P. Gubarev, N.V. Sklifosovsky, and many other Russian medical servants. Professor Yu.V. Tsvelev creative effort culminated in a publication co-authored with E.K. Ailamazyan, V.F. Bezhenar, and others from the “Obstetricians–Gynecologists of St. Petersburg (Science in Faces). 1703–2003” (2003), “Connection of Times. Obstetricians–gynecologists of Russia for three centuries. Biographical Guide” (2010), and “Nonbursting Stars. Essays on scientists who created the science of woman. Biographical Handbook” (2011). Yu.V. Tsvelev left a bright trace in Russian obstetrics and gynecology historiography as a distinguished clinician obstetrician–gynecologist and a brilliant teacher [1–3].

The first 5 yr of the journal’s publication were very challenging. With the country’s constantly changing political and economic conditions, the 1998 crisis, and a lack of many publishing experiences, the editorial board showed step by step in each new issue of the journal that the St. Petersburg School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists not only preserved its historical traditions and scientific potential but also created entirely new directions in medicine. Authors of fundamental works on endometriosis (V.P. Baskakov and Yu.V. Tsvelev), micro-ecosystem and bacteriology of female genital organs (E.F. Kira, V.I. Kocherovets, and I.V. Berlev), problems of the influence of harmful factors (including military service) on the body of women (Yu.V. Tsvelev and V.F. Bezhenar) demonstrated this. The journal publishes a series of works on the scientific direction developed in St. Petersburg — the ecology of reproduction, which was granted the Russian Federation’s Government Prize (by E.K. Ailamazyan, N.G. Kosheleva, and V.V. Potin). The St. Petersburg school’s contribution to perinatology, prenatal diagnosis, and classical obstetrics is evident in the works of V.S. Baranov, N.N. Konstantinova, G.A. Savitsky, V.V. Abramchenko, M.A. Bashmakova, E.K. Ailamazyan, M.A. Repina, and V.V. Potin [3].

Almost simultaneously with the first issues of the updated JOWD, at the initiative of the editor-in-chief, brief clinical guidelines, teaching materials, manuals, and monographs were published as supplements in the Ex libris JOWD series. The number of clinical guidelines for 25 yr is approximately 100 titles. They have proven to be an invaluable resource for practicing physicians in the shortage of printed educational and methodological literature.

Due to Professor E.F. Kira’s relocation to Moscow in 2002, Professor E.K. Ailamazyan, academician of the RAMS, who led the Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology named after D.O. Ott, became the editor-in-chief of the journal. With its experienced staff, the JOWD acquired a completely new format of a world-class scientific medical journal from that point forward. The cover and the editorial board have changed. The level of publications (reviews of modern literature, original research, case studies, and unique clinical observations) was characterized by high evidence-based scientific research, which has long been a characteristic of the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

At present, the JOWD (Figure 6) is a medical peer-reviewed publication that discusses contemporary obstetrics, gynecology, perinatology, and healthcare organization concerns. Scopus, Russian Science Citation Index, Embase, Russian Science Citation Index Core, GoogleScholar, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, WorldCat, EBSCO, CNKI, Pubions, and Dimensions have it indexed. It is included in the “List of scientific peer-reviewed journals and editions, in which the main scientific results of dissertations for the degree of candidate and doctor of medical sciences should be published.” On average, there are six issues per year, with additional issues timed to major scientific forums. The publication is part of the Eco-Vector medical journal series.

 

Fig. 6. Title page of the journal (2022)

 

The JOWD is published in standard paper format with access to articles on a separate website. An archival digital library comprising scanned articles from 1891 to 1935 and digitized articles from 1887 to 1898 has been developed. The number of articles downloaded from the archive is approaching 90,000. The articles are published in Russian, English, and Chinese. Ninety percent of contemporary authors are Russian scientists, with most foreign specialists coming from CIS countries: 22% from Germany, 14% from Poland, 11% from Great Britain, 10% from France, and 2% from the United States.

The readership of the journal is also interesting nowadays. Regarding downloading articles from the Internet, 52% of users prefer Russian, 25% English, and 23% Chinese. Readers come from 140 countries, with Russia accounting for 63%, Ukraine for 6%, Kazakhstan for 5%, Belarus for 4%, the United States for 3%, and China for 3%.

The journal ranks first among Russian obstetrics and gynecology journals, according to the Science Index rating (1.204) and second in the Russian Science Citation Index (2-yr impact factor, 1.272). Simultaneously, the citation rate of the journal in 2019 reached 1.39.

It has been 135 yr since the first obstetric journal in Russia was published, which remained the only one in our country for several decades. It should be emphasized that since its inception, the quality of obstetric and gynecological treatment in Russia has significantly improved. More than two dozen journals are dedicated to obstetrics, gynecology, perinatology, and reproductology problems. Some of them have established themselves as leaders in their fields. Others, like butterflies, came on the horizon 1 day and then vanished.

In this context, the JOWD celebrated its 135th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of its revival and returned to St. Petersburg, the cradle of Russian obstetrics. Is this a lot or a little? It all depends on how one views the situation. After all, the criteria for evaluating the journal are its popularity and demand among the audience and many obstetrician–gynecologists who have improved their professional and general educational levels by studying its articles. Today, we can assert that the first Russian JOWD significantly contributed to the formation of the Russian School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Having risen to the top of domestic obstetrics and gynecology journals, it continues to cover the most promising scientific research aimed at incorporating its results in everyday clinical practice to significantly help obstetricians, gynecologists, and patients.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Funding. The article was written as part of a research work on the history of medicine (initiative topic).

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest related to the publication of this article.

Author contributions. E.K. Ailamazyan, E.F. Kira, I.G. Rodin — concept and design of the article, collection and processing of material, editing; E.K. Ailamazyan, E.F. Kira, I.G. Rodin — writing the text.

All authors made a significant contribution to the study and preparation of the article, read and approved the final version before its publication.

ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ

Источник финансирования. Статья написана в рамках научно-исследовательской работы по истории медицины (инициативная тема).

Конфликт интересов. Авторы декларируют отсутствие явных и потенциальных конфликтов интересов, связанных с публикацией настоящей статьи.

Вклад авторов. Э.К. Айламазян, Е.Ф. Кира, И.Г. Родин — концепция и дизайн статьи, сбор и обработка материала, редактирование; Э.К. Айламазян, Е.Ф. Кира — написание текста.

Все авторы внесли существенный вклад в проведение исследования и подготовку статьи, пpoчли и одобрили финальную версию перед публикацией.

About the authors

Eduard K. Aylamazyan

The Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology named after D.O. Ott; Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University; St. Petersburg State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: ailamazyan@icloud.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9848-0860
SPIN-code: 9911-1160
Scopus Author ID: 6506821393
ResearcherId: G-2219-2014

MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg; Saint Petersburg; Saint Petersburg

Evgeny F. Kira

N.I. Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Center

Email: profkira33@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1376-7361
SPIN-code: 8955-9775

MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor

Russian Federation, Moscow

Igor G. Rodin

Eco-Vector Ltd.

Email: irodin@mail.ru

Head of Eco-Vectror group of companies

Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

References

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