// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Infant Life Protection Act say to the baby? "You're protected under law, that's a wrap.
| Act of Parliament | |||||||
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| Long title | An Act for protecting infant life | ||||||
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| Citation | 35 & 36 Vict. c. 38 | ||||||
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The Infant Life Protection Act was a British law passed in 1872 to stop the practice of baby farming, where unwanted babies were boarded out for money and frequently neglected or killed. It required the registration of all residences where more than one child was taken for payment and kept for longer than 24 hours.[1][2] It was later replaced by the Infant Life Protection Act of 1897, which extended the time frame to 48 hours and raised the age of the notified child from one years to five.[2]
Background
[edit]Baby farming, a term coined by the British Medical Journal in 1867,[3] generally referred to the practice of placing infants, particularly those born to unmarried or working mothers, with women or families who received payment for caring for them.[4][5] Before 1871 in the United Kingdom, the death rate among these babies was disproportionately high.[2]
References
[edit]- ↑ "The Infant Life Protection Act". The British Medical Journal. 2 (1022). BMJ: 175–175. 1880. ISSN 0007-1447.
- 1 2 3 Tate, H. B. (1 August 1933). "Infant Life Protection". Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute. 54 (8). SAGE Publications: 401–404. doi:10.1177/146642403305400803. ISSN 0370-7334.
- ↑ Buckley, Sarah-Anne (2017). "8. 'Found in a dying" condition': nurse-children in Ireland, 1872-1952". In Farrell, Elaine (ed.). 'She Said She was in the Family Way': Pregnancy and Infancy in Modern Ireland. University of London Press. pp. 145–162. ISBN 978-1-905165-65-0.
- ↑ Homrighaus, Ruth Ellen (1 July 2001). "Wolves in Women's Clothing: Baby-Farming and the British Medical Journal, 1860-1872". Journal of Family History. 26 (3). SAGE Publications Inc: 350–372. doi:10.1177/036319900102600303. ISSN 0363-1990.
- ↑ Arnot, Margaret L. (December 2025). "Infant death, child care and the state: the baby-farming scandal and the first infant life protection legislation of 1872". Continuity and Change. 40 (3). Cambridge University Press: 271–311. ISSN 0268-4160.
Further reading
[edit]- Baby farming, British Medical Journal. 1867 Dec 21;2(364):570–5. PMCID: PMC2310790
- "Infant Life Protection Act 1872" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. Gov.UK. 1872. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
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