The ‘Mother and Child Scheme’ was a plan to provide free medical care for all expectant mothers and their children up to the age of 16 in Ireland in the early 1950’s. The attempted introduction of the plan caused a major political crisis. The crisis involved the Government, the Roman Catholic Church and the medical profession.
Attempts to reform the Irish healthcare system began after World War II. The high infant mortality rate in Ireland led to the Mother and Child Service being proposed by Health Minister Dr Noel Browne in 1950. It became known as the ‘Mother and Child Scheme’ and was met with strong opposition on a number of fronts.
The plan was opposed by the medical profession who felt it would reduce doctors’ income and would lead to the ‘socialisation of medicine’. The Roman Catholic Church opposed the plan on the basis that it could lead to the introduction of birth control and abortion. A large number of politicians opposed the plan for several reasons, including that it put them at odds with the Catholic Church and that the state would have to pay for the scheme.
The crisis led to the resignation of Minister Noel Browne on April 11th 1951 and eventually the fall of the Government the following June. Following the election of a new Government a different version of the Scheme broadly acceptable to the Church and the medical profession was introduced in 1953. The crisis re-enforced the belief in some areas that ‘Home Rule was Rome Rule’.
The Roman Catholic Church condemned the proposal by the Irish Government to introduce the ‘Mother and Child Scheme’ in the year 1951 On This Day.
Photo by infomatique 