Infant mortality : its causes and remedies.

Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Infant mortality : its causes and remedies. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    it only for a prison cell; and as we have no right to conclude from the birth of one child, that the mother is naturally or incorrigibly vicious, (affection being almost always at the root of a first error), to keep her in so demoralising an atmosphere, is at once the most unjust and the most foolish course the law can pursue. From the experience of Homes and Refuges, it does not seem that the sense of parental responsibility requires, as a rule, any strengthening in the mothers of illegitimate children, and the proportion of first births, among such children being to all other births, so far as statistics can be obtained, as 3 to 1, the risk of increasing the bur- dens of ratepayers by permitting the mother to be at large, and yet to receive parish relief, or by allowing her to leave her infant in the workhouse, whilst she goes out to try to earn money for its support, would be very small,^^ But the question of out-door or in-door relief assumes a very different aspect where a woman has more than one illegitimate child ; for as she can no longer plead ignorance and inexperience as her excuse for yielding to her seducer, there is, in the fact of the birth of a second infant, so strong a presumption that the mother's nature is sensual and vicious, as to warrant society in refusing her any aid, except upon terms which place a further repetition of her offence utterly out of the question. By giving assistance and freedom to the mothers of first children, the chances are in favour of an ultimate diminution of the rates ; by granting like assistance and liberty to the mothers of two or more illegitimate children, the chances are in favour of increasino- them permanently and indefinitely ; it is, therefore, for the benefit of the ratepayers that we ask for out-door relief for the former, and strongly deprecate its being accorded to the latter.^* How small the risk run by tlie ratepayers it would be impossible to tell, unless we could estimate in bow far the influence exercised by the enforced corrupting association in the workhouse with older and really depraved women on the minds of young girls, leads to their becoming mothers for the second time ; but taken in connec- tion with the proposed measures for ensuring the participation of putative fathers in support of their children, we believe that this particular suggestion would entail no fresh expenses on the parish, whilst by the adoption of all our proposals the burden it has now to bear would be largely and permanently lightened. Alj- the societies for the rescue of women are guided by the belief that, first children are the fruit of ignorance, inexperience, and true, though misplaced] affection; second children, the result of a vicious temperament or a corrupted mind • and aU of them, therefore, confine thek efforts to seeldng out and aiding the former.