Lisbon’s first dispensary of milk for children

Abstract

The creation of Lisbon’s first dispensary of milk for children and its evolution until the 1920s can be found described in  the various sources used for the writing of this Documenta,  which are now kept at the Lisbon Municipal Archive. This  facility, which was of decisive importance for the city, was  opened in 1903, resulting from an initiative promoted by Colonel Rodrigo António Aboim Ascensão (1859-1930), who, by advocating the establishment of the Associação Protetora da Primeira Infância (Association for the Protection of Early Childhood) two years earlier, had succeeded in mobilising benefactors, doctors, hygienists  and political figures to support and protect infants and children, with the aim of minimising the impact of the poverty in which they lived. Based on the project designed by the architect M. Ventura Terra, this idea was realised through the joint efforts of Lisbon Municipal Council and the Ministry of Public Works, who donated the land needed for its construction. The activity of the dispensary was  important, both in view of the social support that it provided and in its application of internationally recognised scientific methods relating to neonatal and child health.