ABSTRACT
When Lillian Wald made those comments about Lathrop and the Children's Bureau at Vassar's fiftieth anniversary, she was reacting to widespread criticism of the female reformers; they were not behaving as proper women and were threatening the larger social order built around traditional families. For Lathrop the bureau's infant mortality studies highlighted the critical need to improve standards of care for pregnant women and their young children. As early as 1913 the Children's Bureau launched its programs of health education with the publication of its pamphlet, Pre-natal Care, followed one year later by Infant Care. Lathrop and West asserted that the advice was predicated on an adequate standard of living to which all mothers and their children were entitled. The bureau staff embraced science and health experts because they understood that modern advancements could improve the lives of millions of American mothers and children.
