St Stephens Hospital Completes 125 Years: A Mission of Compassion

The beginning of the 600-bed St Stephens Hospital in Delhi is the story of compassion of a 16-year-old girl who came all the way from England in 1858 determined to do her bit to improve the lot of women in all possible ways by providing education and health care , sadly lacking in those days.

Her brother, Daniel Sandys, who was preparing to become a priest, were among those killed in the 1857 uprising. The infant Church in Delhi received its baptism in blood. Every European found in the city was put to death without quarter, and the faithful chaplain among them went to his reward. The Indian Christians were given the chance of life if they would deny their new-found faith. Many were killed, and a few, escaped out of the city. One Chimman Lal was murdered outside his dispensary "because he denied not that he was a Christian." After some weeks of terrible suspense the message was received in England:"The Delhi Mission has been completely swept away."

Priscilla Winters vowed to avenge her brother's death by coming to India and sharing her love of God. In 1858 she arrived in Calcutta where her parents were missionaries. She visited the homes of ordinary women and particularly the poor and learnt first hand the difficult conditions in which they lived. When women fell ill or were in labour, they were treated by other ignorant women and often with fatal results. Medical facilities were poor and there were no women doctorsas they would not expose their bodies to make doctors, the only alternative was to suffer in silence.

Shifted to Delhi:
Mrs Winters shifted to Delhi after her marriage when she was 21 and set herself the task of liberating women from their ignorance, fear and illness, instead of throwing up her hands in despair over the oppressive systems and customs of the time. She had no experience of medicine or nursing but her concern and yearning to be of help gave her the knowledge and understanding to move in the right direction. She started schools, trained Anglo-Indian women in nursing and hygiene and enlisted volunteers to visit households and extend all help to the womenfolk.

The medical work began in 1864 when she started visiting the bathing ghats on the Yamuna and distributed medicines to ailing women whom she befriended. When she went to England along with her husband in 1866, she collected subscriptions to recruit a lady medical worker to set up a dispensary for women and to train native women as workers.

She was determined and indefatigueable in her work. 'I have to study the language, teach in schools and zenanas (Women's section in a home), nurse the sick and write' begging letters, she told a friend..

Her health workers faced heavy odds and were treated with suspicion and apathy. The teachers found it difficult even to gain entrance to the zenanas. While few of the inmates wished to learn, the visit of an English lady was found to be a welcome interruption to the monotony and dullness of their secluded lives. But men feared for the result and were contemptuous of the efforts to teach the women.

Prejudices:
Comic situations were often witnessed at the dispensary as well, Sitting side by side in the waiting room were women of all castes and ranks, rich and poor. Dispensing drugs to illiterate women also had its hazards. Labels containing instructions were of little use.

The dispensary was initially located in a house in the middle of Chandni Chowk. As work expanded the government gifted a site in the same area. That was in 1880.For years it was a question of how far women could or would avail of the opportunity offered and leave their homes and place themselves amidst such novel surroundings for treatment.

Even Mrs Winter felt they would never get a large number of patients because of prevailing prejudices .Events proved that the fears were unfounded and they found the place too small to meet the growing needs of the community.

However Mrs Winter did not live to see the fruits of her labour for it was not until after her death that the hospital was actually built and, as a memorial to her in the city to which she gave her life that the money for its erection was raised. The building was formally opened on October 31,1885 by Lady Dufferin as 'St Stephens Hospital for Women and Children.'

Tis Hazari:
As the activities of the hospital expanded a new site was located in the Tis Hazari area and the medical work shifted to the new buildings in 1908 where it stands now a monument to her unremitting labour. Mrs Winter caught a fever after the birth of her tenth child and died when she was only 39. . The first qualified medical woman to take charge of the work was Dr. Jennie Muller in 1891. After working for some few years in the Mission she paid a visit to England to obtain further medical qualifications, after which she returned to take charge of St. Stephen's Hospital, and was largely responsible for building up the work and putting it on the firm basis on which it now rests.

Accounts of conditions, prevailing then, make interesting reading. According to Lilian F Henderson, 'The life of a doctor in a hospital such as St. Stephen's is one of immense scope, and also one of great stress and strain. Her powers are taxed to the utmost, for unlike an English city hospital or infirmary where every case is dealt with by its own specialist, a mission hospital is a place where the doctor must be prepared to cope with every type of disease known or unknown which is brought to her for treatment. She must be ready to attempt operations in order to save life which she may never have attempted before; accidents, tropical fevers, wounds, poisoned limbs, eyes in every imaginable state of disease or inflammation--these are the ordinary things of life.'

In Love:
But the true worth of the hospital to women is gauged by the expert knowledge and skill which is at their service in the hour of their greatest need. From time immemorial they have been the victims of unhygienic treatment and often of unspeakable barbarities at the hands of the ignorant, dirty women who, according to custom, are called in to minister to them at the time of confinement. Many such victims have been brought to the hospital when there seemed little hope of life for either mother or baby. And many of them have learned what science, loving skill and cleanly conditions can do to bring them back even from the brink of the grave.

The medical workers had to battle against prejudices and customs and that needed untiring patience and perseverance. One method employed was the training of indigenous dais (midwives) and the establishment of Infant Welfare Centres, where the women can bring their babies and learn from the trained worker in charge how best to care for them both in sickness and health. Health visitors also visited the women in their own homes and gradually taught them some of the rules of hygiene and cleanliness.

There are few better demonstrations of the Christian message of love and mercy than caring for the sick and the suffering,' Rev Robert Winter, husband of Priscilla recorded in his writings. 'Our object is to show the people of Delhi that we have their real welfare at heart and that we seek the benefit of their minds, and bodies as well as their souls.' With its motto, 'In love serve one another' the hospital continues to battle sickness and suffering extending health care to larger populations. God has blessed the work and His servants earned the goodwill of a grateful Delhi.