My DM was a midwife in the early 60s. Unfortunately she died well before the books or series were released but she could have written them.
She used to regale us with horror stories when we were young. It certainly discouraged us from having babies as teenagers. But she was disgusted by the way young girls were treated in labour and refused to let them suffer, advocating for pain relief and compassion. It didn’t make her popular with the old school but she just couldn’t stand by and let 12yr olds left on their own.
She also would sit and nurse the babies who were born with severe disabilities not compatible with life. Often the mothers could not deal with them and refused to have anything to do with them. Without scans the disabilities were often severe, we don’t see them nowadays because they are detected early and terminations are offered.
She worked part time until my youngest sister was born and then was a SAHM for 5 yrs. she then became a TA and finally went back into nursing when we were mid teens.
She didn’t need to work but had always wanted a career. She wanted to be a doctor but my grandparents were very firm that she had to leave school at 16. Any money available was for her younger brothers’ education.
As a result she was determined that her daughters would have the opportunities she wasn’t afforded.
Her legacy is three daughters, two dentists and a marine biologist with two degrees and a PhD.
Her grandchildren will be third generation university graduates.
Although we all have my DF’s natural intelligence we owe our passion, empathy and drive to my DM.
I was a 70s/80s child, not much had really changed and I remember being patronised by older generations when they discovered where my ambitions lay. Most women were still expected to marry and give up their career. But my generation of professionals were the ones to carry on after marriage and children. A significant number set up or bought into dental practices, I was one of them. Then successfully run a business despite the lack of confidence by male colleagues. Now there are more women qualifying in dentistry and many of them own their own practices.
I would say we were lucky, but it was often hard work. There was still a great deal of misogyny and discrimination from the profession. Even as late as the mid eighties the universities were still operating a discriminatory admissions policy. So many girls, back then, had no idea that their failure to get a place on a course was actually the universities acting illegally, since the Sex discrimination act was being ignored.