of the lower classes and every degree of lack of education, and one woman, I remember could not write. Personally, I found many to be dishonest, untruthful, indescribably dirty in their habits and persons, utterly unprincipled, shockingly coarse and deficient intelligence, and with not the faintest idea of discipline." United Kingdom Reform and the 1902 Act In the late 19th century, reformers were calling not only for registration and recognition of the profession of a midwife but also for the two functions of midwife and monthly nurse to be amalgamated: "The work of midwives lies, for the most part, amongst the poor and the poor lying-in woman needs not only to be delivered, but to be visited for some ten days subsequent to her confinement." The registration of midwives was opposed by members of the House of Lords and Parliament in the United Kingdom for many years, who argued that the delivery of infants was the responsibility of trained doctors and to allow women to do the job, even in straightforward cases, would take away doctors' income. It was not until the Midwives Act of 1902, following 12 years of representation by women, that midwives were "registered," but it would still take several years for it to be accepted. The professional training and formal qualification of midwives, and eventually, the postnatal care offered by the National Health Service, saw the end of the monthly nurse. See also Wet nurse Canadian Mothercraft Society kraamzorg Further reading Churchill, Fleetwood. On the Theory and Practice of Midwifery. Philadelphia: Blanchard, 1860. "Qualifications and Duties of the Monthly Nurse" p..629-648 GBooks Adams, Annmarie. Architecture in the Family Way: Doctors, Houses, and Women, 1870-1900. McGill-Queen's/Hannah Institute studies in the history of medicine, health, and society, v. 4. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001. p. 112-13 The many articles and letters published in the Nursing Record between 1860 and 1930 "The monthly nurse: her origin, rise, and progress". may 21, 1891. The Nursing Record. Marian Humfrey, member of Royal British Nurses' Association Nursing specialties Midwifery Gendered occupations Child care Women's health Archaic English words and phrases Childbirth