Born in Birmingham: Maternity, Midwives & Infant Welfare 1914-1924

This commemorative research project is being run by the Friends of Birmingham Archives & Heritage, and funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It follows on from an earlier project 'Birmingham Children of War' which looked at the lives of children in Birmingham throughout the First World War (see separate 'Mapping the Centenary' listing). This second project has enabled our volunteers to focus on both the health of new-born babies and infants, but also their mothers and at the changing role of midwives and growth in the numbers of health visitors. Birmingham was a pioneering location for maternity care and infant welfare provision prior to the conflict, with both aspects of natal care delivered through a combination of voluntary and municipal schemes. But the city had to respond to issues that arose during the course of the war, set against a background of legislative changes that included the Midwives Act and the Maternity and Child Welfare Act passed in 1918. Fifteen volunteer researchers, led by a core group of eight, attended regular research sessions that examined library and archival materials held within the Library of Birmingham. A research trip was also conducted to visit the Wellcome Archives. Our project outputs have included a number of blog articles - our learning guide and associated exhibition are due to be finished in 2021. The image shows a weighing day at a local Infant Welfare Centre.