This book traces women's influence on maternity policy in Norway from 1880-1940. Maternity
policies including maternity leave midwifery services and public assistance for mothers were
some of the first welfare policies enacted in Norway. Feminists midwives and working women
participated in their creation and helped transform maternity policies from a restriction to a
benefit. Situating Norway within the larger European context the book contributes to
discussions of Scandinavian welfare state development and further untangles the relationship
between social policy and gender equality.The study of poor rural women alongside urban
middle-class feminists is rooted in an inclusive archival source base that speaks to the
interplay between local and national welfare officials and recipients the development and
implementation of laws in diverse settings the divergent effects maternity policies had on
women and women's varied response.
