Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6: Sex in Relation to Society — John Shaqi
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6: Sex in Relation to SocietyEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6: Sex in Relation to Society
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
The Huddersfield scheme may be said to be the origin of the
English Notification of Births Act, which came into operation in
1908. This Act represents, in England, the national inauguration
of a scheme for the betterment of the race, the ultimate results
of which it is impossible to foresee. When this Act comes into
universal action every baby of the land will be entitled--legally
and not by individual caprice or philanthropic condescension--to
medical attention from the day of birth, and every mother will
have at hand the counsel of an educated woman in touch with the
municipal authorities. There could be no greater triumph for
medical science, for national efficiency, and the cause of
humanity generally. Even on the lower financial plane, it is easy
to see that an enormous saving of public and private money will
thus be effected. The Act is adoptive, and not compulsory. This
was a wise precaution, for an Act of this kind cannot be
effectual unless it is carried out thoroughly by the community
adopting it, and it will not be adopted until a community has
clearly realized its advantages and the methods of attaining
them.
An important adjunct of this organization is the School for
Mothers. Such schools, which are now beginning to spring up
everywhere, may be said to have their origins in the
_Consultations de Nourrissons_ (with their offshoot the _Goutte
de Lait_), established by Professor Budin in 1892, which have
spread all over France and been widely influential for good. At
the _Consultations_ infants are examined and weighed weekly, and
the mothers advised and encouraged to suckle their children. The
_Gouttes_ are practically milk dispensaries where infants for
whom breast-feeding is impossible are fed with milk under medical
supervision. Schools for Mothers represent an enlargement of the
same scheme, covering a variety of subjects which it is necessary
for a mother to know. Some of the first of these schools were
established at Bonn, at the Bavarian town of Weissenberg, and in
Ghent. At some of the Schools for Mothers, and notably at Ghent
(described by Mrs. Bertrand Russell in the _Nineteenth Century_,
1906), the important step has been taken of giving training to
young girls from fourteen to eighteen; they receive instruction
in infant anatomy and physiology, in the preparation of
sterilized milk, in weighing children, in taking temperatures and
making charts, in managing crêches, and after two years are able
to earn a salary. In various parts of England, schools for young
mothers and girls on these lines are now being established, first
in London, under the auspices of Dr. F.J. Sykes, Medical Officer
of Health for St. Pancreas (see, e.g., _A School For Mothers_,
1908, describing an establishment of this kind at Somers Town,
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