In the years following WWII, dubbed the "Baby Boom" years, the population soared. Middle class women were expected to be happy at home taking care of their children. Sex was not discussed in polite conversation, and birth control methods, such as the diaphragm, were hard to come by. Poor women suffered as they risked injury or death to obtain illegal abortions. Determined to help, the Maternal Health Association (MHA) worked hard to build community support and reach out to women and men who desperately needed birth control information.
In 1953, Margaret Sanger returned to Cleveland to speak at the Maternal Health Association's 25th anniversary celebration. Her friend and associate, MHA founder Dorothy Brush, introduced her. In 1954, West Side supporters organized a home tour to aid the clinic on that side of the city. The tours would continue for many years, raising critical funds to support the work of the organization.
In 1957, the Maternal Health Association moved to a new building on Cornell Road near Western Reserve University. It was the first building erected solely to house a birth control clinic. Frances Wick Bolton and Elizabeth Chisholm Chandler co-chaired the association's fundraising drive to construct the building, and strong support from Cleveland's business community began a tradition of corporate giving and involvement. "The Maternal Health Association is the first family planning organization in the United States to occupy a building especially constructed for its purposes," proclaimed the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The association named the new training and conference facilities in honor of legal adviser Jerome C. Fisher and dedicated a children's playroom to early supporter Edith Meacham Hitchcock. The building would serve Planned Parenthood for 25 years.
