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was a popular persuasive policy.
On 20th June a supplementary decree to this law made it even more appealing to married couples. It was decided that the loan to be repaid would be cut by a quarter on the birth of their first child; by a half on the birth of their second child and by three quarters on the birth of their third child. After four children they owed nothing.

The Honour Cross of the German Mother was an incentive designed to boost the status of mothers. It was an award given to mothers for bearing children and was modelled on the military cross for men. A bronze cross was given to mothers of five children, a silver cross was given to mothers of six or seven children and a gold cross was given to mothers of eight or more children.
Another campaign to increase the birth rate was an Improvement in Facilities for Expectant Mothers. The Deutsches Frauenwerk (DFW) with a membership of six million, organised Mothers Schools, which offered training courses in household management and the skills of motherhood. Another source of maternity advice was the NSV. In addition, the section arranged job placements for unemployed husbands, education grants, home help and holidays for mothers in need. Nationally the number of women attending recuperation homes rose.
In 1938 the Nazis reformed the marriage law in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to encourage more births. They extended the grounds for divorce to any irretrievable breakdown'. When judges had to decide on cases of divorce they were told to bear in mind the interests of the National Community in acquiring healthy offspring.' Therefore if a marriage had not produced children it should be dissolved in the hope that a new marriage might bear better fruit.
The Lebensborn Project was established to promote more children. In 1936 special maternity homes called Lebensborn were opened as breeding centres for the production of pure Aryan children. Unmarried Aryan mothers were encouraged to donate a baby to the Fuhrer' by becoming pregnant by racially pure SS Men.

Coercive

Section 218 of attempts were made to restrict access to contraceptive information and advice. Birth Control centres were also closed down and although it was already illegal, abortion was rigorously enforced.
They were also encouraged to stop smoking and slimming and take up a sport.

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