ABSTRACT
Such visions of Jewish women as good mothers with their robust children were portrayed by many medical practitioners, voluntary workers and statesmen in late-nineteenth-century England. Praise lavished on Jewish mothers centred on the good care they took of their
families and in particular their infants. Jewish mothers were con sidered to be models to other mothers. They were noted for paying meticulous attention to household chores, for ceasing to work early in pregnancies, and for their breastfeeding habits. Were Jewish women such perfect mothers as these commentators suggested? This is dif ficult to measure, but the remarkably low rates of infant mortality even among the poorest Jewish community at the turn of the century indicate that Jewish mothers cared for their infants.
