Alice B. Stockham

“ What more helpless and dependent than the newborn infant! A human soul, with all the possibilities of life, yet of itself it cannot supply its slightest need.
No wonder that so great a wealth of maternal love is called forth in administering to such helplessness! No wonder that the mother’s heart is humbled at the greatness of her mission as special guardian of the little one! ”

“ We must educate our daughters to think that motherhood is grand, and that God never cursed it. That the curse, if it be one, may be rolled off, as man has rolled away that of labor; as it has been rolled from the descendants of Ham. My mission among women is to preach this new gospel. If you suffer, it is not because you are cursed of God, but because you violate his laws. What an incubus it would take from woman could she be educated to know that the pains of maternity are no curse upon her kind. We know that among the Indians the squaws do not suffer in childbirth. ”

“ Is it not plain that the violent or forcible deprivation of existence of this embryo, the removal of it from the citadel of life, is its premature death, and hence the act can be denominated by no more mild term than murder, and whoever performs the act, or is accessory to it, in the sight of God and human law is guilty of the crime of all crimes.
The life of the babe in her arms is to the mother more precious than all else; her heart is thrilled with a pang of agony at thought of the least danger to its life. ”

“ The small pox itself, which reduces the fairest form of humanity to a mass of breathing corruption, can not be looked upon with greater dread. Child-bed fever, like an inexorable Atropos, cuts the thread of life for those to whom Clotho and Lachesis would give the longest span. ”

“ If this pain and travail is a natural accompaniment of physiological functions—if it is a curse upon women, then why are the rich, the enlightened and more favored daughters of earth greater sufferers than the peasantry, the savage, the barbarian, and those who we call heathen? Is it not possible, by research and comparison, to learn the natural and true mode of life, so that motherhood may, among enlightened people, be relieved from this burden of suffering? ”

“ Thus this “undisturbed maternity, which was essential to the ushering in of the Prince of Peace, is equally in all cases a vital and indisputable necessity for the improvement of humanity. Motherhood should be a shrine unpolluted by selfishness. O woman! This would be thy recompense for all the sufferings and agonies which pertain to physical womanhood and motherhood.” ”

“ There is something so touching in the death of a woman who has recently given birth to a child; something so mournful in the disappointment of cherished hopes; something so pitiful in the deserted condition of the new-born, helpless creature, forever deprived of those tender cares and caresses necessary to it, that the hardest heart is not found insensible to the catastrophe. ”

“ When a mother thinks her rosy nine-year-old daughter is deformed, and she must begin to put her in stays to change her horrid figure to one that is trim and neat, what can we hope for the daughter when she takes the responsibility of her own garments? If I could do the greatest thing to stay degeneracy and disease of the human race it would be to convince women that lung power more than anything else contributes to health, longevity and power of endurance. To attain this a radical change must be made in clothing. ”

“ A woman has for her diet a choice from all the grains, all the vegetables and all the fruits. When a working animal thrives and retains its strength upon two articles only, viz., corn and straw or oats and hay, can not the human make a bill of fare of sufficient variety to please the most fastidious out of all the grains, fruits and vegetables? If foods were ordinarily chosen to supply the needs of wasted tissues rather than to pander to perverted and capricious appetites, there would be less necessity of a special diet for pregnancy. ”

“ By what false reasoning does she convince herself that another life, still more dependent upon her for its existence, with equal rights and possibilities, has no claim upon her for protection? More than this, she deliberately strikes with the red hand of murder, and terminates its existence with no thought of wrong, nor consciousness of violated law. ”

“ When woman only is taught that virtue is the brightest jewel in her crown, when the popular verdict is that womanliness and modesty are synonyms for repression, when she lives in fear of maternity, and believes restraint on her part prevents vitality of life germs, when, too, erroneous habits pervert every function, how can we tell what is natural for her? ”

“ The long months of anticipation, doubt and endurance are over, the hour long feared has culminated in the bestowment of a gift which an angel might receive with rapture. A babe, the object of woman’s profoundest and most sacred passion has been given her for her very own, to nourish, guide, develop and instruct, of which even death cannot rob her. ”

“ In long years since, the agonizing cries of heart-broken, suffering women, the terrible death rate of little children have proven that in the marriage relation there is such a perversion of nature, such grievous wrongs committed that one needs a pen of fire to express the living, burning thoughts, and carry the conviction of truth into the very lives of men and women. ”

“ By all the value of splendid children over poor or none, should all other interests be subservient to maternity, not it to them. Brush aside, like cobwebs, pecuniary, ambitional, and all other ends, and make it imperious lord over all. Your family may better live on bread and water, and you have splendid children, than do all this work, and have ill-natured, sickly ones. ”

“ Still I solemnly believe that in weakness and deterioration of health, the corset has more to answer for than intoxicating drinks.
What affects the physical affects the spiritual; what affects the animal life affects the mental. Given a physical body dwarfed and deteriorated in any respect, and a corresponding deficiency in spiritual, intellectual and moral worth is likely to exist. Look at our men and women who have been grand and successful in achievement, noble in purpose, and vigorous in intellect. With few exceptions they are men and women of harmonious, strong, athletic physiques. ”

“ The woman who produces abortion, or allows it to be produced, risks her own health and life in the act, and commits the highest crime in the calendar, for she takes the life of her own child. She defrauds the child of the right to its existence. ”

“ But no, the stomach refuses these. At eleven o’clock a confidential friend calls. She commiserates you, and knows that both you and the fetus will starve. She goes to her own larder, brings you a piece of pound cake, some custard and jelly; possibly a piece of mince pie. Do these share the same fate? Perhaps not. Her cheery laugh and neighborly sympathy, and the more propitious time of day, make it possible for this to be retained. But pause, my friend. Has the blood received the best nutriment for building a healthy organization for yourself or child? ”

“ As long as men feel that they have a right to indulgence of the passions under law, no matter what the circumstances, what the condition of the wife, or the probabilities of maternity, so long will the spirit of rebellion take possession of women and [Pg 251] the temptation enter their souls to relieve themselves of this unsought burden. May the day soon arrive when men will learn that even passion should serve reason, and that gratification should, at least, not be sought at the expense of conjugal happiness and unwelcome children. ”

“ If one has been accustomed to high living, to rich and greasy food, composed largely of the carbonaceous starch, sugar and fat, a change to a simple diet will work wonders in a short time.
The habit once established for a diet that furnishes the nutriment demanded for the system, one cannot be induced to return to that which gorges, stimulates and fattens, but does not nourish. The real relish and gustatory pleasure found in a fruit and grain diet can never be appreciated by those who indulge in inconsistent mixtures of stimulants and disease-producing elements. ”

“ What are some of the incentives to produce abortion? An unmarried woman seduced under false representations by a man who feels no responsibility for his own offspring, suffers alone all the shame and contumely of the act, and is tempted to cause miscarriage to shield her good name.
Married women who fear that maternity will interfere with their pleasures, are guilty of forcibly curtailing embryotic life. Others, again, who are poor or are burdened with care or grief, or have licentious or drunken husbands, shrink from adding to an already overburdened existence. ”

“ Many years ago during a visit to my cousin, a young married woman called with her four months old baby—a thin-necked, bloodless, blue looking child. After she left, cousin observed, “Is it not a shame that young people have so little knowledge? That poor child is suffering because the parents too frequently practice the privileges accorded in the marriage relation. The milk is deprived of its vitalizing and nutritious elements.” ”

“ Habits of cleanliness can be taught every child. The clumsy diaper can be dispensed with by the time it is three or four months old. Let the mother practice holding out her baby immediately after nursing it, and it will easily be taught to urinate at this time, and also to have a passage from the bowels at a stated time in the morning and evening. The actual comfort secured to mother and child through this habit, more than repays for the labor and patience in securing it. Teach your children to be cleanly. A dirty child is a mother’s disgrace. ”

“ Pause for one moment and think of the thousands of stunted, dwarfed beings that are prematurely ushered into an existence that can not be normal and designed. Were infants to have been born into spirit life, provision would have been made to that effect. That they are born into this life is proof that this world is best adapted for their growth and education.
There may be no harm in preventing the conception of a life, but once conceived it should not be deprived of its existence in that world which in all its appointments is specially adapted to its development. ”

“ General housework is desirable, avoiding the more laborious portion, like washing, scrubbing and heavy lifting. In housework one brings into action nearly all the muscles of the body, with the exception of some of the trunk and those used in deep respiration. Even these would not lack development if clothing caused no restrictions. In the home work a woman reaches, stoops, turns, walks, lifts and climbs stairs.
Housekeeping usually interests a woman during pregnancy if at no other time. She is nest building, and the home work is a labor of love. ”

“ In such a room one must necessarily respire the same air many times, and the fact that it is cold does not make it the less injurious. Nature throws off by the breathing process certain poisonous elements which to re-breathe and re-absorb is most pernicious. No one who is not robust should sleep in a room so cold that the windows and doors must all be closed to keep warm. A much more healthful way is to have the temperature of the sleeping room the same as that of the living room; under no circumstances do I deem it advisable for an invalid to sleep in a room that can not have pure, warm air. ”

“ An eminent lady teacher, in talking to her pupils, once said: “The greatest calamity that can befall a woman is never to have a child. The next greatest calamity is to have one only.” From my professional experience I am happy to testify that more women seek to overcome causes of sterility than to obtain knowledge of limiting the size of the family, or means to destroy the embryo. ”

“ Cowan says: “The period of pregnancy should be one of increased health, rather than increased disorders. The mother who has hitherto led a true life, will, during this period, experience an exhilaration of spirits, a redundancy of health and cheerfulness of mind that is not to be enjoyed at any other time.” ”

“ By seeking to ennoble and enrich the lives of others, by ignoring personal sense and pleasure, the soul, the ego, becomes in harmony with the spirit of the universe, and this harmony should give health of body, as well as peace of mind. ”

“ The strength of the sexual appetite in men is unquestionably the grand obstacle to the improvement of the race in the manner proposed. But is this strength in all cases purely natural and healthy? Otherwise, no one can rationally urge that its demands should be indulged to their full extent—much less that the personal rights, the health and happiness of the opposite sex, and the welfare of unborn generations, should be sacrificed to its indulgence. ”

“ If it were merely a female folly, or if its ravages were confined to its perpetrators, it might be allowed to pass unrebuked; but it strikes a deadly blow at the very life of the race. By girting in the lungs, stomach, heart and diaphragm, it cripples every one of the life-manufacturing functions, impairs the circulation, prevents muscular action, and lays siege to the child-bearing citadel itself. By the want of abundant maternal vitality, air, exercise and digestion, is this practice murderous to both. ”