children of unmarried mothers should be cared for by the State,
that there should be an eight-hours' day for all workers, and
that no children under sixteen should be allowed to work (E.
Leyboff, _L'Hygiène de la Grossesse_, Thèse de Paris, 1905).

Perruc states that at least two months' rest before confinement
should be made compulsory, and that during this period the woman
should receive an indemnity regulated by the State. He is of
opinion that it should take the form of compulsory assurance, to
which the worker, the employer, and the State alike contributed
(Perruc, _Assistance aux Femmes Enceintes_, Thèse de Paris,
1905).

It is probable that during the earlier months of pregnancy, work,
if not excessively heavy and exhausting, has little or no bad
effect; thus Bacchimont (_Documents pour servir a l'Histoire de
la Puériculture Intra-utérine_, Thèse de Paris, 1898) found that,
while there was a great gain in the weight of children of mothers
who had rested for three months, there was no corresponding gain
in the children of those mothers who had rested for longer
periods. It is during the last three months that freedom, repose,
the cessation of the obligatory routine of employment become
necessary. This is the opinion of Pinard, the chief authority on
this matter. Many, however, fearing that economic and industrial
conditions render so long a period of rest too difficult of
practical attainment, are, with Clappier and G. Newman, content
to demand two months as a minimum; Salvat only asks for one
month's rest before confinement, the woman, whether married or
not, receiving a pecuniary indemnity during this period, with
medical care and drugs free. Ballantyne (_Manual of Antenatal