[Report 1942] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bury County Borough.

  • Bury (Greater Manchester, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1942] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bury County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/40 (page 9)
    How an ordinary married rvoman can judge whether a doctor is better trained in, and has more knowledge of, obstetrics, is beyond compre- hension. Even if slie \\ere of llie opinion tliat tlie doctor is now better trained and possesses more kmnvledge, it is doubtful whether that would be sufficient inducement to produce more children. •Amidst the welter of remedies, and whichever way one looks at the ])roblem, the fact remains that finance and vested iiiterests have had too great control over our lives in the past. Give people decent houses to live in at reasonable rents, with good, ‘but not expensive furnishings and fitments, and set in decent surround- ings, a gpod supply of nutritious and sufiicienth- varied food, and of clothing free from inflated prices created by rings and combines, good wages, a reasonable guarantee of employment, and a certain amount of leisure and amusement, and then it might be thought worth while to bring up larger families: Before these material changes can come about a complete change in the heart and spirit and, therefore, in outlook must first take place. d'he number of old people has risen in recent decades, and there will be relatively few younger ])eo]jle to W()rk and provide for the maintenance of the old. This mav be viewed witli uneasin.ess by many and desi^on- dency by some. It may be the mark of the age in which we live that security is the password. Xo irlnn for security is workable for long wliere a populace is steadily ageing and there are few young people. There is no doubt that tlie volitional restriction of families is tied up with adverse conditions.