Women and abortion in 1930s Britain: a survey and its data

This paper examines over 3,000 questionnaires on abortion that were distributed through the National Birthday Trust Fund, a non-governmental orrganization, to working-class women in municipal hospitals in 1930s Britain. The aim of the survey was to "discover the proportion of induced to spontaneous abortions". Although the study was abandoned due to weaknesses in its design, the collected data contain a mass of detailed information about the lives and reproductive history of working-class women in this period. The background to the survey is discussed, setting it within the development of research on poverty and women's health, as well as contemporary debate on the issue of abortion. The survey data, which are both qualitative and quantitative, are analysed and presented in figures with accompanying commentary. Issues covered include the impact of poverty, overcrowding, reasons for avoiding pregnancy, and contraception.