The close relationship between the provision of birth control advice and th
e ideology of eugenics deserves closer attention. This paper focuses on the
enthusiasm for eugenic ideas amongst an influential section of the medical
profession and their ability to initiate contraceptive provision. A study
of North Wales suggests that clinic provision in the interwar period reflec
ted the enthusiasm or hostility of the medical profession more closely than
the needs or demands of the female population, and illustrates how, for so
me doctors, the issue of contraception was seen in the wider context of the
nation's health.