I like reading other people's reminiscences, so I hope mine will amuse some of you. Please don't bother to read them if you are only interested in medical matters. Anyway here goes, starting right at the beginning.
It was March 1941. The sirens had sounded, and the bombers were passing overhead when my mum told my dad that the baby was coming. My dad walked in the dark to the nearby nurses' home, where they had booked a nurse to oversee the delivery. Dad and the nurse walked back- always a slightly dangerous business with our night fighters and ack- ack shooting at the bombers. ( My elder brother amassed a fine collection of spent ammo from these raids.) Then the nurse stayed with my mum all night and nothing happened. Next morning my dad went off to work. (Bricklayers did not get paid in those days if they did not work.) He hurried home at lunch time- and found my mum eating an egg which the nurse had cooked. Off to work in the afternoon and back quickly at tea- time. Still no baby. Eventually the nurse told him he'd have to fetch the doctor. So father walked down to the doctor's surgery, where a lot of hopeful patients were waiting. When he explained his errand the doctor was not best pleased, but he picked up his bag and shouted into the waiting room that he would not be back that evening. 'They'll still wait', he told my dad. Back at the house the doctor got out his trusty forceps and helped my rather small mother deliver 9lb. me.
According to my parents the doctor was not a happy bunny because he had sent his wife into the country to escape the bombing and was looking forward to a night of sin with his receptionist. I remember him as a large and rather abrupt Scotsman, whose vaccinations were fierce and painful.😂😂 Nothing to do with me messing up his evening?
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Alberta56
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A brilliant, if somewhat scary, beginning Alberta. I loved your story. Our daughter weighed 9lb 8oz at birth but arrived within 2 hours. She herself had her eldest son quickly and he was born weighing 9lb 6oz. I’m pleased the doctor went to help your mother and you arrived safely. His amorous ways had to wait. Xxx❤️😘
We are close in age and I enjoy reading stories of past events. To be honest I remember them more than I remember yesterday's lunch. I joined primarily for medical advice but was surprised to find how long many of us had survived with these ailments.x
sorry my reply diverted from your story. All I know about my birth was that it was at small hospital, Loveday Street, Birmingham. mother wouldn’t talk about it, so think might have been difficult. I have a broken disformed big toe, always been so, think damaged when being delivered. Jean x
Sorry have scar, and your poor mum not allowed to see you. Hope other bruises didn’t have adverse result. Yes things were different years ago. Didn’t change very quickly, my oldest child was born in 1966 in small specialist hospital run entirely by women. My husband wasn’t allowed into entrance hall even. The care and attention was very good, and I felt in safe hands. After she was born during night I was put into own small room to sleep. Next morning nurse brought me drink, asked me if could hear baby crying, told that was my daughter who hadn’t stopped, but they couldn’t find out why!
Hi Alberta, I enjoy all aspects of this site: the informative, the funny and the interesting stories. If we can help each other by sharing our medical and life experiences or raising a smile, whats not to like. Thank you for telling your story 🙂xxx
i looked at another site recently, where the people were only talking about their illness, mainly detailing how much worse it was getting. Poor people, but I found it very gloomy. Laughter keeps us sane.
100 percent! Laughter and chatting to people is so beneficial. I find it helps in so many ways and like you say stops me from going completely off my rocker! 😆xxx
I was born in leafy Southgate, a north London suburb. There was nothing worth bombing in Southgate. The bombers were passing over on their way to more important targets, perhaps De Havilland's at Hatfield or possibly going on to the Midlands. My elder brother was also a nine pounder, so my mum was used to big babies.
Great story, your poor Dad, Mums just have to put up with it all. Glad I came after the blitz, Dad was off in the Fleet Air Arm at that point (Pacific Ocean) and I think Mum still at school.
I was born in 1960 in an Army hospital (even though Dad was RAF!) in Rinteln, W. Germany, my mother was also tiny, only 4"11 1/2 even on a good day and was also delivered by forceps! We have much in common But I think I ruined my poor mother's life more........ I was 9lb 8oz, same as sassy!! As a big baby I only grew to5"2", did you grow to a size you would expect a big baby to? Sorry Mum x
I too ended up at 5'2", same as my mum. Mother thought all self-respecting babies ought to be big. My younger brother, a mere 6 pounder, was the runt of the litter. 😂😂😂
Strange isn't it? My younger sister was very premature and was less rhan 3lbs at birth but is now a porky 5"2". My kids were 5lbs2oz now 14st 2lbs and 5"6". My other daughter also born at 5lbs 2" is 5"11" and about 9st 8oz, whilst my son born at 7lbs8oz is 5"10" and about 11st. I think my sister is so large from my mother subconciously trying to "feed her up"! I am now a lot heavier than I am normally, I have been a pretty much constant 7st 6oz. It doesn't follow does it?! xx
I tend to eat more from giving up smoking/boredom/ steroids and obvs lack of exercise. But noq I realise that's why I was always cold! Though I think I'd rather put on an extra layer xx
My daughter was born in Rinteln in 1974 after 37 hours in labour, she only weighed 5lb 7oz. I remember saying to the Irish midwife what is wrong with my back the pain was so bad, she laughed and said you are in labour my dear x
Oh gosh! Rinteln! Was your husband also in the forces? Yeah my first was a measley 5lb 2oz, but after all the stories of forceps I am quite pleased to be honest! She soon caught up xx
My Dad made quite a few friends out there and I would go and stay with them for holidays as I was learning German at school. I loved it too and everyone was really friendly! xx
I'm sure quite a few of we mums are now thinking of our own experiences- minus a scary blitz of course - and well after the start of the NHS. My first two were born in Libya. Both were born very quickly 3 hours & 80 minutes. My 6lb son is now 66ft with size 11 feet!
I prefer stories like this than some always complaining. I know it's hard when you're unwell buy its good to hear about others experiences in life. Thank you for that xxSheila 👍💕
I love these stories, so thank you for sharing them. I wonder if, perhaps, babies were larger a couple of generations ago. I was over nine pounds and my mother recounts that she took one look at me, after I was born, and fainted. My brother used to insist it was because I was so ugly, but my mother told me that she it was a difficult birth but she wanted to stay 'awake' to see me safely into the world. My brother was ten pounds! He was born in 1959, and I was born in 1960.
My Auntie Grace apparently burst into tears at the site of her firstborn, because his head was such a funny shape. It must have righted itself, because he grew into quite a handsome man, but new mums are very sensitive. xxx
Thanks for that very interesting story. I remember the nightly bombing in 1941, went to bed in Anderson air raid shelter dug into back garden, always damp as on clay soil, but I survived! My father worked during day as a prop shaft straightener for tanks etc. Evenings nights he was an ARP warden, took injured to hospital, assisted people who had been bombed etc. Sorry don’t have any funny story, but recall one morning saw tree with toilet pan that was resting on big branch! Jean x
I managed to send a general reply, rather than one just for you, saying that I was too young to know anything about the horrors of war, so all my memories are of funny or silly things. Brain fog, I fear. xxx
wow ! What a scary prospect to deliver a big baby in those days. I’m pretty sure a forceps delivery is never something you would want but a good way to help your mum deliver you. People were in tough times and had no chance of an epidural! Yikes 😳. Glad it all went well eventually. Lovely story thanks for posting Alberta x
(ps. My husband talks about life before the NHS was founded. Seems so strange for me, it’s always been there. He eventually became a director of the SW NHS but now has his feet up, retired. )
I can remember my Father and I having pneumonia and no antibiotics to help get us better. The relief was huge when the NHS came in. Mum would go and pick beans and peas to pay the Drs bills.,we lived in a small three bed Prefab that really was as cold as being outside. It was home though. The Neighbours would bring us a rabbit for Sunday dinners and Mum would get Marrowbones from the butcher to make a stew. Dad grew all the fruit and veg. They were very poor days and people think they’ve got it bad now.
Yes we all had medical problems in the winter. I think most people were on the breadline after the war. The cold was the biggest problem, trying to keep warm in the winter was a nightmare and winters were much colder then. I am the youngest of four and we topped and tailed in one bed, that perhaps kept us a little warmer. Ice on the inside of the window panes. You are right people dont know how lucky they are nowadays x
I was the youngest of three and I can remember getting into a freezing cold bed. My Sisters were allowed a stone hot water bottle. I wasn’t allowed it as i was too young. I remember scratching pictures on the inside of the iced up window. There were five inch icicles hanging from the roof. X
So remember those days and think we had fun scratching pictures on the frosted windows and sliding around outside, but am so glad we live in healthier times and that winters are warmer now x
I do wonder if we had pneumonia as children and can remember being quite poorly once that Mum had the doctor out. Those younger days could have been the reason i now have bronchiectasis , there must be thousands of us with the same complaints, just tough times x
My dad belonged to the Oddfellows, which helped a lot with medical bills. I never felt we were going hungry, but we had an allotment and kept chickens. I think we were lucky.
Our chickens were for egg production, not for eating. Eggs were a useful form of exchange- eg. my dad would give one lady eggs and she would give him sugar which she didn't need, so my mum could make jam. I don't think father could have faced the ructions if he has suggested eating one of our chickens. 😂😂😂
I had pneumonia and pleurisy in 1946, just after war. My dad also had pneumonia, coal was rationed, only enough for one fire in house, so my dad and me slept in different beds in one bedroom, mother had to walk upstairs with coal to keep fire going. She slept in bed with dad, think she must have been exhausted. I had Kaolin poultices that she had to put on my chest several times each day, and I survived x
I’ve not had or heard of goose fat on chest! I remember about 1960 had pleurisy, treated with first antibiotics, worked like miracle, was well in few days.x
i was too young to know about the horrors of war- my mother sheltered me from anything nasty. So my memories are fragmentary and mostly of funny things.xxx
This was after the war. I was two years old when the war finished but people were still very poor. When I was nine years old we moved to a semi detached house a few miles away. We thought it was Heaven. Still no central heating. We only had a coal fire but the house was still warmer than the one we had before.
Our house had sash windows, so it was 'very well ventilated'. Not being used to anything different we took it for granted that only the living room was warm.xxx
just read through all posts, very interesting and informative. Thanks to everyone, and yes only touching on more difficult times, is good to remind us how lucky we are now, even with problems with GPs and NHS. Best regards, Jean x
What a lovely tale.I was born as a keillands rotation forceps delivery.
Looking like an alien with bruising and a mishappen head the ward sister gathered me in her arms and said to my mother " this babe will be a blessing for you all of her life".
Someone should have told my Auntie Grace that when my cousin Stan was born with a misshapen head. It righted itself of course, but poor Grace did not know that at the time.
Love your story Alberta. I have quite a few stories from the war told to me by my Mum, Dad and Aunty mainly. I'm from Manchester so it was heavily bombed during the war. Dad was in North Africa and Italy in the RAF and my Mum was evacuated. You have reminded me of all the stories they told me. God bless them. I think we could all probably fill a book with their stories. My mum told me I was born at home in 1956 with the help of the midwife. My mum had just eaten a meal of braised steak and onions when she went into labour and said I had braised steak and onions on my head when I came into the world. Don't know if she was joking or not but it's a great thought 😂
That was Doctor Finley!! And his receptionist was Janet!!
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xx
Re admitted to hospital
My Dad is really bad at the moment he is breathing so hard even at rest ,and coughing so much .He has been on antibiotics and steroids
