Introduction

The international maternal and infant welfare movement of the last decades of the nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth was a direct response to high maternal and infant mortality rates and falling marital fertility in most countries of the world. In some countries, it was given impetus by major conflicts, particularly the Boer War and the First World War, which decimated populations, robbed nations of their young men, and concentrated attention on ensuring the survival of future generations to people lands and empires, in a fit state to fight battles. Imperialist concerns were bolstered by a range of economic, social, and humanitarian motivations, and the desire to save the lives of mothers and young children.