The Mothers' Clinic

Abstract

The Mothers' Clinic for Constructive Birth Control was established on 17 March 1921. The first family planning clinic ever established in Great Britain, it was co-founded by Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes and her husband Humphrey Verdon Roe at Number 61, Marlborough Road in Holloway, North London. The Mothers' Clinic was one of the highlights of Stopes's extensive career as a proponent of available birth control and women's sexual equality. Although it suffered from slow business initially, the clinic eventually flourished and expanded to other locations, growing into today's not-for-profit organization Marie Stopes International. Prior to the early 1900s and the fight for controlled reproduction, couples had very little power over their own fertility. The establishment of this clinic and others of its kind was an important milestone in the history of managed fertility and reproduction.