DR. J. M. MUNRO KERR'S PAPER 425 



plications which might have been prevented, and the 

 State is responsible for their lives in so far that it 

 fails to make any provision for the prevention of these 

 complications. 



Naturally the women who would suffer most 

 are those who become pregnant while still unmarried. 

 Now every possible consideration must be extended 

 to these women. There would be absolutely no 

 publicity given to the woman's condition. As a 

 matter of fact if you had women officials looking after 

 this department much valuable aid might be given 

 to these expectant mothers in their unhappy condition. 

 Besides, in any case, pregnancy will sooner or later 

 intimate itself by the birth of the child. Would it 

 not be much better to have these women cared for in 

 some way, and not permitted to continue concealing 

 their unfortunate condition until the last moment, 

 when mother and child may alike suffer from the 

 concealment ? 



Another objection which might be urged against 

 intimation of pregnancy is the uncertainty of the 

 existence of the condition in many cases, for it is 

 sometimes very difficult to say whether a woman 

 is pregnant or not. Of course, there are cases of 

 this nature, but there are also many cases in which 

 it is extremely difficult to say whether a patient is 

 tubercular or not or whether a child is suffering from 

 scarlet fever or not. In such cases a diagnosis is 

 withheld until the physician is certain of the condi- 

 tion. As a matter of fact in most cases the intima- 

 tion of pregnancy would generally be made when the 

 pregnancy had advanced to the sixth or seventh 

 month, and at that stage a diagnosis is seldom 

 difficult. 



Other objections might be urged. It might be 

 urged that the work thrown upon the doctors and 

 Public Health Authorities would be too great and 

 that great expense would be incurred. I shall 



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