The House of Maternity: from the legalization of abortion to the supervision of nuns

Barcelona"My father didn't want me to work at the Maternity Home, but both my mother and I were very firm and we achieved it," explains Fina Flórez Basany. This vocational nurse was born at the Maternity Home in 1947, grew up there, and then worked there until she retired. "My mother was a resignation and they adopted her, but at 16, during the Civil War, she had to return to the Maternity Home. She didn't have a very happy childhood, and returning to the Maternity Home was like a small miracle. She learned a lot there. She was a very well-educated woman," says Flórez. It was also at the Maternity Home in Barcelona that Fina's mother met her husband, who was her caretaker. "Marriage emasculated her; she could no longer work," adds Flórez.

Flórez's testimony is one of many being collected by the General Archive of the Barcelona Provincial Council to recover and disseminate the oral history of this institution. "Reviewing the documentation, we found that the experiential aspect, the life experience, is not reflected in the documentation and that we still had time to capture this experience by turning to oral history," explains Jordi Vilamala, head of the archive and document management office of the Barcelona Provincial Council. The Maternity Home opened in 1853 with the first transfer of thirty-two children in asylum for nine days from the Hospital de la Santa Cruz to the premises provided by the Casa de la Misericordia, which depended on the municipal administration, on Ramelleres Street, in the Raval neighborhood. In its early days, approximately 50% of the children admitted to the Maternity Home arrived through a turnstile installed on the exterior wall of the building, which consisted of a rotating wooden box. In 1854, with a cholera outbreak in the city, the institution was proposed to relocate. In 1884, the move began to the hospital complex located in the Les Corts district of Barcelona.

It was there that Fina Flórez grew up. The arrival of the Second Republic (1931-1936) This meant greater awareness of children's rights and protection. For example, the "turn" (a term for "turn") was abolished in 1931. Among other changes, there was the entry of women with very advanced ideas, such as the anarchist activist Áurea Cuadrado, who became director of the Casa de la Maternidad (Center for Maternity) after the outbreak of the Civil War. In December 1936, the Catalan government approved the authorization of abortion, and women could have it safely at the Casa de la Maternidad. Cuadrado implemented many changes, which were very short-lived, and she was a champion of "conscious motherhood." It was in this context that Flórez's mother returned, as she could no longer live with the family that had adopted her. "At the Maternity Home, she was able to receive an exceptional education. She could type incredibly quickly, read wonderful books, performed in theater, and they set up a movie theater... Despite the war, everything was very happy during that time. When they heard the bombs, they hid under the bed," she explains. Fina's mother began working in the offices of the Maternity Home. There, she met Fina's father. "My father was a war victim when he met my mother, who had lost her boyfriend to tuberculosis. He was widowed and had three daughters."

From Volunteer to Professional

Both worked in the offices of the Maternity Home. When they married, the whole family lived in an apartment on the institution's own premises. Fina's mother also experienced the change of regime. "She explained that the nuns had returned and that they had a lot of power at the Maternity Home. They were the supervisors of morality, so to speak. My mother couldn't stand the lies or the dictatorship," she says. Flórez went to school outside the Maternity Home. However, her daily life was quite different from that of the other children. She lived in an environment full of doctors, midwives, nuns, mechanics... At home, they never ate alone. When she was 14, she volunteered and took care of the babies. It was through that experience that her vocation was awakened. She has always been passionate about her work. She has also learned many things.

"At first, when I started working, I found it hard to accept the fact that some women gave up their children. I suppose it was because of everything that had happened to my mother. I wasn't very aware of it, but I confronted it and that changed. I was born, I have worked and I have worked and I have worked in the House of Maternity with great humanity and very prepared, with a great vocation. I have never seen single pregnant women treated differently from married ones," she explains. Now it is Fina's daughter who works at the House of Maternity.