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Berry Street Babies Home

Berry Street Babies Home is the most recognisable of the names by which the Victorian Infant Asylum, which opened in Fitzroy in 1877, has been known. Aiming to reduce infanticide, the asylum sheltered ex-nuptial babies, but a high death rate soon led the committee to accept nursing mothers as well. Moving to Berry Street, East Melbourne, in 1882, the institution functioned as a maternity home, foundling hospital, adoption agency and mothercraft training school until changes in attitudes towards single motherhood brought a decline in demand for its services. Amalgamated with Sutherland Homes, Berry St Inc. now operates regional family support services.

Shurlee Swain

References
Penwill, Beryl, Looking back, looking forward: The story of 'Berry Street' Child and Family Care, vol. , Berry Street Child and Family Care, Melbourne, 1979. Details