Abstract This article analyzes maternity in Social Assistance based on the demographic policy of the first Franco regime, influenced by eugenic thought. Considering that during the Franco regime the control of women’s bodies became an essential tool of its biopolitics, the presence of eugenic ideas and practices around the health problem of syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis is discussed. The role of Social Assistance in the implementation of prenatal surveillance during pregnancy and the process of institutionalization and medicalization of childbirth in Spain is also analyzed.

Resumen En este artículo se analiza la maternología en Auxilio Social enmarcada en la política demográfica del primer franquismo, bajo la influencia del pensamiento eugenésico. Considerando que durante el franquismo el control del cuerpo de las mujeres se convirtió en una herramienta esencial de su biopolítica, se discute la presencia de ideas y prácticas eugenésicas en torno al problema sanitario de la sífilis en mujeres embarazadas y la sífilis congénita. Así mismo, se analiza el papel de Auxilio Social en la implantación de la vigilancia prenatal durante el embarazo y en el proceso de institucionalización y medicalización del parto en España.

ABSTRACT During the last years of Francoism and Spain's transition to democracy, a social movement emerged to promote the legalization and mainstreaming of contraceptive methods (prohibited in Spain since 1941). One of the key features of this process was the interaction of social, political, scientific, and healthcare interests pursued by participants in the afore mentioned movement, which included feminists, human rights and pro-democracy activists, and medical professionals. Another feature was the creation of family planning centers characterized by a wide regional diversity in their origin, development, and consolidation. This study analyzes the ways in which family planning centers in Murcia, a region where the Catholic Church has played a central role in society, contributed to the expansion of the health rights of women, their knowledge of their own bodies, and their sexuality. This paper focuses on the Advice Centers for Women and Families created by the Regional Council of Murcia in 1980, which were active until 1982. The existence of an organized feminist movement that was independent from political parties played an important role in the practices of these centers, which went far beyond offering contraceptive methods to working-class women. The close connection between feminist organizations and the Advice Centers allowed for the transfer of specific knowledge and practices linked to the women's health movement, which were in turn disseminated amongst working-class women.

RESUMEN En los últimos años del franquismo y durante la transición democrática se produjo en España una fuerte actividad a favor de la legalización de los métodos anticonceptivos, prohibidos en España desde 1941, y del desarrollo de infraestructuras que facilitaran su accesibilidad a las mujeres. Una de las características de este proceso fue la interacción entre los intereses de carácter social y político (feministas, democráticos, pro derechos humanos) y científico-sanitarios que confluyeron en él, así como la creación de centros de planificación familiar caracterizados por una gran diversidad regional en cuanto a su origen, desarrollo y consolidación. La investigación que se propone pretende analizar en qué medida los centros de planificación familiar creados en Murcia, una región donde la Iglesia Católica ha ocupado un lugar central en la sociedad, contribuyeron a la expansión de los derechos de las mujeres a la salud, al conocimiento de sus cuerpos y de su sexualidad. De modo particular, este trabajo se centra en los Centros Asesores de la Mujer y la Familia, dispositivos puestos en marcha por el Consejo Regional Murciano en 1980 y vigentes hasta 1982. La existencia de un feminismo organizado e independiente de los partidos políticos jugó un papel relevante en las prácticas de estos centros, más allá de permitir el acceso de las mujeres de amplios sectores sociales a la anticoncepción. La estrecha vinculación entre las organizaciones feministas y el movimiento de mujeres con los Centros Asesores posibilitó la transferencia de determinados conocimientos y prácticas del movimiento de salud de las mujeres a estos centros, que los difundieron a su vez, mediante estrategias educativas, a mujeres de las clases populares.

The aim of this paper is to analyze a sample of domestic economy handbooks in order to assess the popularization of correct food and feeding practices in Spain between 1847 and 1950. With this contribution, we wish to evaluate another factor that would influence the Spanish food transition. We are aware that this is a very indirect source, given the high levels of illiteracy among women in Spain during the last third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. A further factor to be considered is the low proportion of girls attending school. We have analyzed the handbooks published in three periods. The first ranges from the last third of the 19th century to the first decade of the 20th. These handbooks are considered in order to provide background for a comparison with the works published from 1900 onwards. The second period focuses on the 1920s and the 1930s. The last period covers the handbooks published after the Civil War under the monopoly of the Sección Femenina (women's section of the Falange). Over the years under consideration, recommendations underwent a progressive modification from the very simple leaflets used in the 19th century to the introduction of scientific factors into the teaching of domestic economy. The work of Rosa Sensat represented the beginnings of this trend. A further modernizing factor was the appearance of vitamins in some of the handbooks. After the war, the number of handbooks decreased and they were, in general, very poor. If we consider the content on vitamins, there was a lack or shortage of information in comparison with some of the books published in the same period outside the monopoly of the Sección Femenina. In conclusion, we can state that the repetition of recommendations on good feeding habits and the increase in girls attending school would exert a positive influence on the food transition of the Spanish population.