Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was established by the Sydney Rescue Work Society in Camperdown. It was a lying-in hospital that had been part of the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women but became Bethesda when South Sydney Women’s Hospital opened. This home was not related to Bethesda Maternity Hospital at Marrickville. Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers closed in 1976 when South Sydney Women’s Hospital was demolished.
Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was in Stanley Street in Newtown. The street name was changed c.1914 and has since been known as Gilpin Street, Camperdown.
In 1950 the Sydney Rescue Work Society reported that 57 pregnant women had stayed at the home that year. At that time the Matron was Olive Smith, a former Deaconess, and her assistant was Miss Jean Brown. The Christian mission of the home was clear – Miss A Simmonds attended weekly to play the organ at services and the Rescue Work Society reported on the success of ensuring one mother was married to the father of her child, and another intended to become a missionary. The Society remained silent about the futures of the other 55 women, or their babies.
Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was mentioned in the Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices Inquiry (2012) as an institution that was involved in forced adoption.
From
c. 1904
To
1976
Alternative Names
Bethesda Home for Unmarried Mothers
South Sydney Bethesda Waiting Patients Home
1904 - 1976
Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was situated at Stanley Street, Newtown, New South Wales (Building Demolished)
