Conception Control and Its Effects on the Individual and the NationBarrett, Florence Elizabeth
Philosophy
Conception Control and Its Effects on the Individual and the Nation
Barrett, Florence Elizabeth
Contraception
While it is true that ill-health and premature ageing in working women
are the result of many causes, yet where child-bearing still further
injures health it is essential that she should consult her medical
adviser on this point, for she not only needs treatment to restore her
health, but also advice specially suitable to her own case, as to the
best method to avoid conception for the time being, and such advice
will vary according as the disability is temporary or permanent.
It is, happily, as possible for the poor woman to obtain advice in all
matters of health as it is for the rich. The mothers of the country
are in touch everywhere with maternity clinics, where doctors advise
them on all questions of health relating to pregnancy, and treat each
woman as a separate individual.
But the case of the poor working woman overburdened with work which
she cannot accomplish--yet with the added burden of bearing more
children than her more fortunate sisters, deserves some further
consideration.
What is it that prematurely ages so many of these women of the
slums--is it child-bearing alone?
The answer to that is immediately in the negative, for women in
comfortable circumstances may have large families, with no sign of
weariness and dejection. No, the causes of ill-health and debility
are diverse, and to pretend to solve the question by conception
control is a mockery, for it salves the conscience of the community
without really dealing with the question of the disabilities of the
working woman, or the true cause of her excessive fertility.
Ill-health in working-class mothers often has its origin in inherited
weakness and lack of care in childhood. It is further accentuated by
overwork, with no labour-saving devices; lack of suitable food; too
few, if any, hours of recreation, and hence very little out-door
exercise. Badly ventilated homes deprive the mother of necessary
supplies of oxygen, and insufficient sleep is often the last straw
which breaks down the patient burden bearer. A true and haunting
picture is given in a recently published book called _The Woman in the
Little House_ (which first appeared in a series of articles in the
journal "Time and Tide"), describing the anxiety of a working woman at
night to keep her baby quiet that the husband may sleep.
Now it is quite true that a small family instead of a large one will
diminish the work and anxieties of such a mother, but it will not give
her the remedies which she needs, nor will it diminish the excessive
sexual demands made upon her.
Everyone who knows these women intimately realises what an exhausting
feature is this habit of excess due to lack of knowledge or
self-restraint on the part of the husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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