ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Church of Scotland made health and social care a connector between religion and the family. The state had no policy on morality and health care, while both the state and society harshly judged the unwed mother. The matron was crucial to the Church's success in gaining public recognition as a legitimate provider of maternity care and in fulfilling its social policy goals. Maintaining civic and medical recognition ensured the home independence from state control, while also securing the Church opportunities to influence policymakers on matters surrounding social care and illegitimacy. The Church of Scotland's mother and baby home provided only part of an extensive range of charity health and welfare provision available to unwed mothers in Glasgow. The fact that the home was regularly full is testament to both the matron's efforts and the unwed mother's or her family's choice for care in a religious setting.
