At present, indeed, it is only in France that the urgent need of
rest during the latter months of pregnancy has been clearly
realized, and any serious and official attempts made to provide
for it. In an interesting Paris thesis (_De la Puériculture avant
le Naissance_, 1907) Clappier has brought together much
information bearing on the efforts now being made to deal
practically with this question. There are many _Asiles_ in Paris
for pregnant women. One of the best is the Asile Michelet,
founded in 1893 by the Assistance Publique de Paris. This is a
sanatorium for pregnant women who have reached a period of seven
and a half months. It is nominally restricted to the admission of
French women who have been domiciled for a year in Paris, but, in
practice, it appears that women from all parts of France are
received. They are employed in light and occasional work for the
institution, being paid for this work, and are also occupied in
making clothes for the expected baby. Married and unmarried women
are admitted alike, all women being equal from the point of view
of motherhood, and indeed the majority of the women who come to
the Asile Michelet are unmarried, some being girls who have even
trudged on foot from Brittany and other remote parts of France,
to seek concealment from their friends in the hospitable
seclusion of these refuges in the great city. It is not the least
advantage of these institutions that they shield unmarried
mothers and their offspring from the manifold evils to which they
are exposed, and thus tend to decrease crime and suffering. In
addition to the maternity refuges, there are institutions in
France for assisting with help and advice those pregnant women
who prefer to remain at home, but are thus enabled to avoid the
necessity for undue domestic labor.