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Social History of Medicine 1998 11(2):283-309; doi:10.1093/shm/11.2.283
© 1998 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Women and Abortion in 1930s Britain: A Survey and its Data

JAMES THOMAS and A. SUSAN WILLIAMS*

* James Thomas, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London 18 Woburn Square, London WC1H 0NS, UK. A. Susan Williams, History and Philosophy, Institute of Education, University of London 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK

SUMMARY This paper examines over 3,000 questionnaires on abortion that were distributed through the National Birthday Trust Fund, a non-governmental organization, to working-class women in municipal hospitals in 1930s Britain. The aim of the survey was to ‘discover the proportion of induced to spontaneous abortions’. Although the study was abandoned due to weaknesses in its design, the collected data contain a mass of detailed information about the lives and reproductive history of working-class women in this period. The background to the survey is discussed, setting it within the development of research on poverty and women's health, as well as contemporary debate on the issue of abortion. The survey data, which are both qualitative and quantitative, are analysed and presented in figures with accompanying commentary. Issues covered include the impact of poverty, overcrowding, reasons for avoiding pregnancy, and contraception.

Keywords: abortion; 1930s Britain; poverty; women; pregnancy; survey; questionnaire; National Birthday Trust Fund; Joint Council of Midwifery


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R. Woods
Medical and Demographic History: Inseparable?
Soc Hist Med, December 1, 2007; 20(3): 483 - 503.
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