When the Maternity Center Association was founded 30 years ago, it had one aim: lowering the U.S. maternal death rate. M.C.A. urged editors of general magazines to drop their priggish taboos against discussing the problems of pregnancy; it advised women to get medical care early in pregnancy—and hospitals to give it.
M.C.A. representatives traveled all over the U.S. preaching pre-natal care, and founded institutes in which 25,000 nurses learned better techniques of caring for women in childbirth; in 1932 a school was established for training nurse-midwives to replace ignorant midwives. The association is proud of the part it played in lowering the...