"An abortionist city": maternal mortality, abortion, and birth control in Sheffield, 1920-1940.

In May 1935, the National Council for Women held a conference on health in Sheffield. At the time, concern about rising rates of maternal mortality was at its height nationally. Many of the delegates to the conference commented on the particularly poor situation in Sheffield, which had one of the highest maternal mortality rates (MMR) in the country.' Councillor Asbury, the long-standing Labour Chair of the Council's Health Committee, rose to defend his Council against the charge that not enough was being done to tackle the problem. He agreed that "The one black spot is maternal mortality."2 However, he turned the issue round by explaining that: