Wise Parenthood (15th edition)/Author's Preface

THE origin of this book was an attempt to answer innumerable inquirers who, having read "Married Love" (first published in 1918), approached me desiring wholesome information on a subject of vital importance to themselves and to the race. Not only these individual inquirers, but the world at large, and even the medical profession, lacked a rational, scientific and critical consideration of the details concerning the methods for the control of conception, some of which are now so widely used. My book seemed urgently needed, because owing to this very lack of serious and scientific presentation, ill-informed and often debased instruction had been circulating freely.

And even the one British society then (1918) advocating control of conception, namely, the Malthusian League, distributed to inquirers an all too brief leaflet giving indiscriminate instructions, including, without sufficient critical examination or physiological caution, such methods as coitus interruptus, and advising ​douching (see p. 68). Some users observed for themselves that these methods are harmful; and the mistaken idea gained currency that these were representative methods, hence that "methods are harmful," and hence that the advocacy of birth control implies the advocacy of harmful methods. I am convinced by experience that much of the opposition to "methods" is due to the confusion thus created in prudish minds incapable of distinguishing between harmful methods and wholesome ones, yet vaguely aware that some methods are harmful.

In July, 1922, the above-named Society issued a revised leaflet (now a small pamphlet), re-written by Norman Haire, Esq., M.B., who follows the main thesis of my book, viz., that an internal rubber cap worn by the woman is the best contraceptive for general use. That he favours a different form of cap (the Dutch hemispherical type) is a minor, though not unimportant, point which will be dealt with in the following pages (see p. 49).

Owing to a variety of circumstances which have fostered ignorance and strengthened prejudice, the subject of the control of conception has not hitherto received that learned attention which its importance deserves; but for long there have been scattered in the medical and scientific journals and treatises, and in other and more intimately human records, facts based on more or less isolated experience which, once ​correlated, are sufficient at any rate to form a basis for the kind of critical consideration which is wanted. The ethical, the romantic, the physiological, the frankly practical and economic aspects, and the distantly ramifying results of the various methods, are all of vital importance and are essentially interwoven. Though one or the other may have received some attention, those who have pronounced their opinions for or against the control of conception have hitherto generally done so without specifying to which means they refer, and often without taking into consideration the conflicting needs of different aspects of the life of even one individual. Without making an elaborate treatise of this book, all these points have been borne in mind while writing it.

As is indicated in the title-page, the Fourteenth Edition has been revised, and certain changes which will I hope add to its usefulness, and a certain number of new passages, have been added. Since it was first written in 1918 it has had an enormous number of readers, many of whom have written to me confirming, and often illustrating from their own lives, the generalisations presented in its pages. Moreover, many of the readers have been medical men who have cordially endorsed its teaching.

Further practical knowledge has accrued concerning the subject of Contraception as a ​result of the founding of the pioneer Birth Control Clinic. To the Clinic have come many thousands of cases whose requirements have been investigated. In connection with public meetings and various private conferences, I have also had the advantage of discussions on the subject with numerous medical practitioners of different nationalities. Yet the main teachings of this book, as published in 1918, remain not only unshaken, but strengthened.

Inquiry and investigation have not resulted in the discovery of any method better for normal women than the use of the simple all-rubber cap described in the following pages. An improved form of greasy suppository to combine with it is now the reward of our work at the Clinic, and the fourteenth edition was the first to hand on to the public information about it (see p. 42). Research should be pursued, but it seems clear that no very revolutionary result in the field of simple contraceptive measures is imminent. Injections to produce temporary sterility, the use of X-rays, and other methods, suitable only for use by medical specialists, are those attracting attention in advanced circles, but they are not at present of any widespread practical use.

At the request of several distinguished medical men, some years ago I began to write a comprehensive manual on the subject, because none such exists in any language. ​This has now been completed, and is published by Messrs. Bale and Danielsson under the title "Contraception (Birth Control), Its Theory, History and Practice: A Manual for the Medical and Legal Professions." Educated readers who require more detailed information than the present small volume contains will find it useful and written in sufficiently non-technical language. Its perusal should answer many questions frequently asked.

In the preparation of the present small book I have been indebted to very many men and women who have voluntarily confided to me their personal experiences and needs, thus supplying me with invaluable facts. My thanks are due to the late Professor E. H. Starling, C.M.G., F.R.S., who, in 1919, while disclaiming any responsibility for this book, and even in various details definitely dissenting from my conclusions, read the early proof and gave me the benefit of his valuable opinions. The Rev. Sir James Marchant, K.B.E., F.R.S.Edin., and Dr. Mary Scharlieb, C.B.E., M.S., also very kindly read the proofs of an early edition, and I have benefited by their suggestions, although we disagree on fundamental principles.

Personal instruction about individual procedure will still be wanted by many, particularly where slightly abnormal formations or induced malformations render prevention diffi​cult; and I ardently believe that Clinics should be within reach of all, so that rightly trained midwives, nurses and doctors, of suitably sympathetic temperament, can be applied to personally for help.

Realising that this, like most books, will only be of use to the educated and more thoughtful people, and that it is of great racial urgency to bring this knowledge to the poorest and least literate section of the community, my husband Mr. H. V. Roe and I opened the first Birth Control Clinic in the British Empire in March, 1921, in a poor district in Holloway, London, N. For the convenience of its many visitors, in 1925 it was removed to more central quarters at 108, Whitfield Street, Tottenham Court Road, W.1. This Clinic is open daily without charge to all married persons, and has been used by great numbers of poor mothers as well as by members of the medical and nursing professions who desire the information and help I am always glad to give.

At the present date nearly ten thousand cases have come personally to the Clinic, and hundreds of thousands of applications by post from all parts of the world have been dealt with by sending practical advice, doctors' addresses, pamphlets and literature. Of those who have come for personal examination, and who have been helped, the first five thousand case sheets have been analysed and published ​in a little book at 2s. 6d. under the title of "The First Five Thousand," which those who are interested in the details of the Clinic work should find valuable reading.

On the day the Clinic was opened we framed and placed upon the wall the following:—

"THIS CLINIC IS FREE TO ALL, and is supported entirely by the two founders. Those who have benefited by its help are asked to hand on knowledge of its existence to others and help to create a public opinion which will force the Ministry of Health to include a similar service in Ante-Natal and Welfare Centres already supported by the Government in every district."

And it is gratifying indeed to feel that official representatives of all political parties, a great many independent Societies, and even the House of Lords itself by passing Lord Buckmaster's motion in 1926, show that they have rapidly come round to our way of thinking.

The new era which is now dawning should—must—be one in which the people are supplied with sound knowledge to meet their needs. Knowledge on many subjects which has been kept obscure to the past generation is reaching the public in garbled form. Only if those of scientific spirit who possess the nearest approach to truth which is at the time available will assist each other in spreading the truth, can the public be really helped and enlightened. For this reason, in 1921, I felt ​that it would be wise to knit together in a definite organisation some of the more public spirited of the many people who showed themselves alive to the significance of true and scientific sex-knowledge. The Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress was organised, and held its first general meeting in October, 1921. A list of its officers and some other particulars about it will be found in the flyleaf of this book. A sister Society in America, the Voluntary Parenthood League,^[1] has a heavier task than ours, as it has not merely to educate public opinion, but to effect a change of Federal Law before real practical work can be done in the States. All who care for true human progress should join one, or preferably both, of these Societies, for the English-speaking nations are so closely linked that in this matter they should cooperate.

I have daily evidence that already this little book is of use all the world over, and I hope it may help to improve our race, and to check the spread of nervous and other injuries sadly prevalent as a result of ignorant attempts to obtain that wise and health-giving control of parenthood which all who think must crave.

While it is far from being an exhaustive treatise, and while it is deliberately written in ​non-technical and clear English, it was the first scientific and critical consideration of the practical aspects of the subject which, as Lord Dawson said at the Church Congress, in October, 1921, "has come to stay."

I should like to take this opportunity of urging young couples who truly love, to have all the children to whom they can give health and beauty, even if by doing so they sacrifice their personal luxuries.

1927.