In a general way the amount and the kind of work that a woman may be
permitted to undertake during pregnancy depend upon what she has been
used to. It is not unlikely that anyone who is unaccustomed to manual
labor may injure her health and cause the pregnancy to end
prematurely if she undertakes hard work. On the other hand, women of
the working classes sometimes continue at their occupations to the
natural end of pregnancy without harmful consequences. It is
undeniable, however, that among this class miscarriages are more
frequent than among the well-to-do. Furthermore, the average birth-
weight of mature infants whose mothers have remained at work during
the last three months of pregnancy is ten per cent. less than the
average birth-weight of infants among the leisure class. This matter
of the baby's weight is not always serious in itself, but indicates
in the case of working women who are pregnant the existence of a
strain that sometimes leads to serious accidents.

The employment of women during pregnancy and immediately thereafter
is regulated by law in many countries. For example, the laws of
Holland, Belgium, England, Portugal, and Austria prohibit the
employment of women in factories during the last four weeks of
pregnancy or the four weeks following childbirth. Such employment is
unlawful in Switzerland for two weeks before and six weeks after
childbirth. There is no legal regulation of the employment of
pregnant women in either Germany or Norway, but the laws of both
countries forbid them to return to work until six weeks after they
have been delivered. Among civilized nations Turkey, Russia, Spain,
Italy, France, and the United States make no attempt to regulate
employment either before or after childbirth.

Of course there are strong sentimental reasons for relieving