For a long time, midwifery services among the less educated segments of the population were dominated by midwives. However, women without medical education often struggled with their tasks. Doctor Nikolai Ivanovich Pobedinsky radically changed the situation by fighting ignorance. A graduate of the medical faculty of Moscow University, he worked in an obstetric clinic from the age of 26 and actively engaged in scientific education, urging people to seek help in hospitals.

In 1895, Pobedinsky was the first in Russia to successfully perform a cesarean section and began to implement new methods of working with mothers. Professor Malinovsky recalled that Pobedinsky introduced asepsis, which was not easy, as it required retraining the staff and implementing handwashing and sterilization methods. His name is associated with the introduction of surgical methods into obstetric practice. He advocated for careful observation and assessment of all the specifics of each childbirth case.

These efforts soon yielded results. One day, an acquaintance from the anatomical theater, evaluating Pobedinsky's work, humorously remarked, "There are few corpses coming from the obstetric clinic, and the income has dropped completely." Later, Pobedinsky wrote "A Brief Textbook of Obstetrics," which became so significant that it went through seven editions.

In 1906, he headed the largest maternity hospital in Moscow. He later taught at the Moscow Higher Women's Courses, which became the second Moscow State University. Until his death in 1923, he devoted himself entirely to the cause of medical education. As a respected professor and obstetrician, he was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.