Model Mothers: Jewish Mothers and Maternity Provision in East London, 1870-1939

In late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain there was deep concern about the perceived physical and military deterioration of the nation, reflected in the diminishing birth rate, persistently high infant mortality, and the poor health of the working class. Many medical practitioners and politicians believed that Jewish mothers were "model mothers" whose exemplary care of their children offered a solution to these problems. Lara Marks assesses the extent to which the stereotype of Jewish mothers reflected the reality of their experience in East London between 1870 and 1939. Not only did they have to cope with extreme poverty, but as newly arrived immigrants they had to deal with linguistic and cultural barriers and the unfamiliarity of local medical facilities. Model Mothers makes important contributions to our knowledge of maternal and infant care in this period and to our understanding of the interactions between ethnicity and health-care.