Prenatal Care and Its Evolution in America

Abstract

The infant welfare movement had its roots in social concern for the astonishingly high death rates of young children. Pediatricians, nurses, public health workers and lay women’s groups strove to establish well-baby clinics, assure clean milk supplies, and eliminate the waves of epidemic infections which accounted for a huge loss of life. Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, obstetrical practitioners paid scant attention to the antenatal needs of the pregnant woman and her unborn child. Educators, ministers, and eugenists expounded on the topic. Lay women’s groups became involved both in establishing clinics and services for prenatal care, and in working to educate their sisters, health professionals, and legislative bodies of the need for such care. Lycurgus’ interest was politically profitable rather than altruistic. Healthy women produced healthy children, which built up Sparta. The Hotel-Dieu, a Paris infirmary begun in medieval times, offered care for sick, pregnant women.