Vortrag
Exhibiting Infant Care and Maternity in Budapest in the 1920s

The proposed talk engages with the Hungarian National Stefánia Association for the Protection of Mothers and Infants which had been founded in Budapest in 1915. Concerned about the country’s high infant mortality at the time, the Association gradually became involved with preventive care for the very young children. Seeking to educate mothers, midwives and nurses, one of its strategies was to publicize knowledge and offer professional advice about how to best care for new-born children. For that end, it not only relied on a publicity campaign which included pictures, pamphlets and lectures but it started to ‘exhibit’ children’s proper care in various venues. A permanent exhibition focusing on the protection of mothers and children was opened in 1927 in the main building of the Stefánia Association. Engaging with the new knowledge for mothers available at the time and the use of public exhibitions to raise awareness for infants’ most basic needs and their proper care, the talk aims to explore notions of maternity in the aftermath of the First World War.