The Establishment of Parents' Centre: Successful Advocacy for Parents of Children Under Three By the Parents' Centre Organisation in its First Decade 1952-1962

Abstract

This paper discusses the establishment of Parents' Centre and identifies the dynamics involved in this organisation from the perspectives of the pioneering women and men who remained involved in its development for the first decade of its history. Parents' Centre was set up to provide daytime ante-natal classes for pregnant women and parallel classes for expectant fathers mostly in the evenings. The classes included exercises for childbirth conducted by registered physiotherapists, and lectures on the conduct of childbirth by registered nurses or doctors. These were followed by post-natal classes during which the health of mothers was a focus, together with education about children's development from birth till three. The focus of this paper is on the strategies used by Parents' Centre to found a successful organisation which could spread its message to parents, policy makers, the general public and professionals involved with young children. I argue that advocacy was a key factor in the organisation's success in spearheading change in the health and education services for young children and their parents.