I asked my grandmother what she had known about birth before having a baby and she said....

[Pruners]

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aww edam...

danae...reminds me of the things, my very loving (not sarcastic here), nan told me...about how they wondered and were told that I had a cleft lip/palate because my mum had to travel on the same train with some poor unfortunate bloke who had a even more severe version and even less good medical care then I...and that it was the shock he caused my mum.....
but after seeing me and getting to love me, they decided that can't have been all that right...cause when a grandaughter of theirs had it, it was of course different...
honest, they were good people, just a different generation

My great aunty was born at 7 months (as were all of her siblings) so the dr rolled up great grandads sleeve and gave her a direct blood transfusion there and then, she survived and only died aged 60 a few weeks ago.

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onepieceoflollipop,

that book is great, i boughht it a while back, such a wonderful book, you will love it.

cx

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I really, really like Danaes gran - she sounds wonderful.

I have a very big birthmark right accross my back. It is faded now but I have to be careful in the sun - very high protection suncream required!!

My mum said when she was about 6 months pregnant with me a collegue in the office where she worked crept up behind her and slapped her on the back.......and thats why I have a birthmark!!!!!

My mam is 73 and I am 51 so not that many years ago just a different life?

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D. Im not sure. Its just something that I realised a few years ago. My birthmark used to look like a very bad burn and was raised up about half an inch. Even though I have dark hair and green eyes I burn easily. Just always use high factor sun cream when on hols.

I cant see it doing any harm whatsoever.

My mum was told when I was born that it would dissapear by the time I was about 12 but I was much older before people didnt comment on it.

Think I would always use high factor sun cream anyway - even in this country.

Your gran is ace - I love her. Like someone who fights for their family xxxx

My gran had a baby before marriage and the baby was adopted by her childless married older sister. I only found out in a back hand way when I was 25.
I saw a documentary a few years ago which showed a training clip for male doctors. The specialist had the temerity to say that the pain level was equivalent to a kick in the shin. I was livid for days afterwards, if I had been able to find him (long dead he was in his 50's in the 1950's) I would have probably kicked him to death and the film also showed a mother (terribly spick and span) catching a bus home with her baby carried in her arms. No wonder they were kept in so long then, can you imagine having to get yourself to the bus stop after only 2 days in hospital, probably not able to walk properly because of stitches etc. Different life, differnt ways.

WOW what an interesting and thought provoking thread

My grandparents both died when i was young so never had the chance to ask and my mum who is only 60 doesn't really talk about 'those things' which is annoying for me

i have a brother who died when he was a baby and i know nothing about him, when he was born, how old he ws when he died, how he died, i find it very sad for her that she still can't talk about it but also frustrated that she won't

sparklesandwine - you are right about this being a thought provoking thread. You are not very old - so your mum will still be quite young - how sad was it that they feel like they cant talk about bereavement.

I have lost 2 of my 4 sons and the remaining lads know every last little bit of my story.

My in laws think that I am very odd. I have all my sons photos all around the house - wether they are here physically or not. At xmas everybody has a stocking on the fireplace.

DIFFERENT TIMES!!

My first was 22 years ago and there was no knowledge of the time in labour when your contractions slow down. I was told to push as soon as I was 10cm, I ended up trying to push for 4 hours. When if they had left me alone according to todays methods I think I would have managed on my own.

Last baby was only 10 years ago and what a difference, I dozed off (the slow down time) and as soon as I 'came to' the midwives jumped to attention because they knew it was time.

My Nan - 83 this year, likes telling the tale that she kicked the ether bottle on the Dr's 'good' tweed suit & burnt a hole in it. Then it was so damned cold the newborn had to go to her Mums to be kept warm for 9 days & lived in a drawer whilst she recovered at home in the snow in February - with no coal - but she's no softy - so it must've been a bit nippy.

And my MIL (blast her nanme to hell)(can we please have a new MN acronym, it's not a new sentiment) enjoys retelling how on her 14 day post natal confinement the Sister in Circular Ward would Scuttlebutt around saying, "Ladies, ashtrays in your locker, the Doctor is here, whilst simultaneously pulling babes from breasts & Capstans from lips. Oh happy day, I guess...

Never spoke to my grandmother about childbirth (she died a good 10 years before I had DS) but my mother, who is medically-minded, always had a fund of stories about it. SOmething I vaguely remember her telling me is that the vicar used to prowl the hospital wards and do what they called the churching of a woman after she'd given birth, because you weren't allowed back into church without it. DOn't think that gets done much these days and can just magine what I would have said if some vicar had come snuffling round me.

Talking of books I saw a review of a book about a 1920s version of mumsnet where women corresponded using pseudonyms about all sorts of things including birth. I thought it looked fascinating but can't remember what it was called.

This really is a fascinating topic, I must talk to my Granny again. She tried to BF both her babies but was told she didn't have enough milk each time.

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Cheers, must put it on my Amazon wish list!

I thought Churching was to show that a woman was 'clean' again after she'd given birth ie when she'd stopped post-partum bleeding. I think a lot of major religions have a similar ban on menstruating women entering sacred places but I wonder how many people actually stick to it?

Onepiece,I've just read 'Call the Midwife'

It's gripping,it really is.

this really is a fascinating thread.

my mum gave birth to my eldest brother in the early 1960's in a nursing home and he was whipped away from her for two hours. she was only 19, terrified and in pain. when he was returned he'd been fed twice with formula, even though she'd specifically told them she was breastfeeding. she was told nothing about the baby, didn't know if he was healthy or not, and was told to 'wait and be patient' when she asked.

for her next four babies, she did something akin to freebirthing. when each of us had our children, she was panicky about the idea of us being parted from our babies, and as my birth partner, watched the midwife like a hawk

My Granny is absolutely fascinated by how much I know about my pregnancy. When I tell her things like the baby can hear voices and differentiate light and dark, it blows her away. She loves hearing about "what it's doing this week"!

She says she hadn't a clue about any of it. She went into hospital for 3 months - she didn't have complications or anything, but I think there was too much snow to get home. She was prescribed Guinness to keep her iron levels up.

She says things like "Oh, stay in hospital as long as you can. You don't want to race to be coming home and looking after the baby. Get some rest." When I tell her that I'd be the one looking after the baby in hospital she doesn't believe me; "No, the midwives would take it away for naps and changing and baths and feeding so you can recover your strength".

My Mum didn't know what the name for meconium (sp?) was when I told her that my mw had been drumming it into us at the ante-natal classes. She knew green poo was a sign to get medical help but they hadn't been told specifically that it could be a sign of the baby being in distress.

Anyone else watch that Millenium Baby series? I watched it avidly, esp when the women were all pg but it doesn't seem to be on so often now and the children aren't as fascinating somehow.

My uncle was a premature baby in the 1940's just after the end of WW2. He was born at home and wrapped in cotton wool and kept in the bottom drawer, lying on top of a hot water bottle and fed expressed milk through an eye dropper.