Association of American University Women. San Francisco branch. Baby Hygiene Committee

History

In May of 1909, a group of concerned women formed the Certified Milk Fund Committee of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae in order Francisco's poor." Aided by local dairies, the committee successfully reduced infant mortality through their city-wide drive for uncontaminated milk. In addition to supplying milk, the Milk Fund Committee offered instruction in the care and feeding of foster babies.

They expanded their program in 1917 with the founding of the Childrens' Health Center. Functioning as "an educational center for all mothers," the center provided care for infants, foster children and the "older run about" stage. In the spirit of "initiating projects in the interest of child health," the Committee then developed programs for prenatal and postnatal care for mothers; classes and conferences; and examinations and vaccination clinics. Concerned about family planning, they established the Maternal Health Committee in-1929 to offer instructions in birth control.

In 1918, the committee changed its-name to the Baby Hygiene Committee. From 1922 to 1943, the Baby Hygiene Committee operated as a member of the Community Chest. The committee defined their interest as the "studying, operating and getting projects ready for acceptance by a public or private agency for city-wide application." Among their programs later adopted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health were the Well Baby Centers; Supervision of Private Boarding Homes for Infants and Children; Cardiac Diagnostic Center for Children; and, Hospital-Based Postnatal Care for Mothers.

With the closing of the Childrens' Health Center, the Baby Hygiene Committee embarked on a new project in 1945. They organized the Mother's Milk Bank, whose purFose was to provide milk for sick or premature babies. Included in this program was the promotion of natural child birth, breast feeding and rooming-in, in which the infant stayed with the mother in the hospital. From its inception in 1909, the Baby Hygiene Committee played a major part in the civic reform of San Francisco.

From the guide to the Baby Hygiene Committee records, 1909-1964, 1909-1958, (California Historical Society)