[The Assistance maternelle de Montreal (1912-1961). An example of marginalization of philanthropic active women in the field of care for pregnants (French)].

This article examines the story of the Assistance maternelle de Montreal, an organization founded in 1912 by a group of bourgeois catholic women to provide material assistance and free medical services to poor pregnant mothers of the city. I want to show that even if the timid intervention of the Quebec state allowed the AM to survive during the almost 50 years, the rise of the experts in the health field--a phenomenon to which the AM has largely contributed--and in the philanthropic sector led to the marginalization of the female volunteers within the very institution they had created.