Just an old wive's tale?

We bought everything needed before first baby was born but the pram stayed in the shop.

When I was in hospital after the birth of DS (in early October) there was a very shocked lady in the next bed. Her child had arrived 6 weeks early. He was safe and well, but with the baby due in late November, she had done all her Christmas shopping, written and addresses all the cards, ordered the turkey etc etc.

What she hadn't done yet was prepared the nursery, still occupied by an older child. Her harassed DH came in every night to report on getting the new room ready, including building the furniture, while also looking after the toddler.

Well, it used to be inviting misfortune if you decorated a nursery for an expected child before a safe delivery, but that's gone by the board in these more commonsense times.

After all, if you waited until the Frog Prince/Princess arrived you'd be pretty hard pushed to fit all the necessary hard working involved in decorating around the demands of a newborn.

Imagine - disposable nappy in one hand and a paintbrush in the other! It doesn't bear thinking about......

I think it probably did stem from days where there was a high mortality rate with newborns. I didnt like buying anything before my first daughter was born, but that stemmed from as a teenager seeing my aunt's spare room full of baby items just after she suffered from her third stillborn. So sad.

We had the pram in the house before DD was born. I would say 'no problem' but she's a bit of a handful!

I think it is an old wives tale. Back in the late 1960s when I had my first child this is what we did then. You would pay for the pram and the shop would keep it until your baby was born. Nowadays new parents do it differently. There are lots of other "old wives tales" that have now fizzled out over the years ....it was of the time.

I remember when prams lived in the attic and came up and down as required.....none of this new pram for each baby stuff.

I was asked whether I would be 'chuched' by my neighbours when I lived in Cambridgeshire, they did not go out for 6 weeks and until churched. It did not apply to me as I did not share their Christian beliefs.

I do think it was nicer for babies then, to be the centre of attention as home for 6 weeks before being out in the world, but then we spent 10 days in hospital after a baby was born. Not me I went home next day however the offer was there, motherhood was a bit more special then I feel. Now every moment is filmed and uploaded.....quiet and gentle passage into this world has all but gone out of fashion.

Babies bring their live with them?

Should have read "babies bring their own love with them "

Having my son "out of wedlock" was bad enough for my paternal grandmother (the worst sin imaginable) but refusal to be "churched" was worse. She refused to let me into her house for a very long time although my baby son was made welcome. Weird considering this was 1980 and not the dark ages.

My other grandma (who strangled was the more religious of the two and a devout Catholic) said that "i was not the first and certainly wouldn't be the last " and that "babies bring their live with them"

How horrible some people can be downtoearth. Of course it was nothing to do with the pram, but superstitious people don't stop to think how hurtful their stupidity can be.

I bought my pram home after being warned it was unlucky..my little girl was born severly brain damaged through lack of oxygen and died 7 weeks later.I was told that "you brought the pram home "

Well swanny all I can say is that from my experience (in a South London parish in Southwark) in the late 70's and early 80's the rite was in no way motivated by or connected with "cleansing" or "purification".
I take the points made in the article but would reiterate that most anecdotes go back to pre-1960 or to the influence of mothers/grandmothers either on very young (impressionable?) mums or possibly fundamentalist Christians. Not a few in S London in those days.
Yes Rigby the extreme fringes of even Christianity were and possibly still are oppressive of women, but I thought this thread was about "old wives' tales" not church bashing?

Ironically I have just been reading about the origins of the phrase "Old wives' tale in preparation for a production of the Winter's Tale on Gotland (in Swedish) next week. The "winter's or old wives' tale" was nothing to do with the wisdom of mothers or grandmothers or superstition at all but came about when an old woman is asked to tell a merry winter's tale to drive away the time trimly, it was a sort of fairy tale or fantasy designed to have a happy ending.
So nothing like what this has morphed into

Religious arritudes towards women over the centuries have been pretty vile haven't they? And still are in many religions- especially at the fundemental fringes - and that includes Christianity.

Maw Stuff which happened in the 50's was nearly 70years ago - not exactly modern times! I was referring to conversations I had with other new mums in the late sixties about practices common in that area then, less than 50 years ago and well within the lifetimes of many GN members.

If you look again at the fourth paragraph of the Church Times article, you will read It was clear immediately that the ancient churching rite had indeed been widely practised all through the 20th century, and that purification had sometimes involved new mothers in extraordinary episodes of confine­ment and shame. I acknowledge that aspect of the service has changed in recent years to one of thanksgiving for the birth of a child - except in many third-world countries still - but the purification/cleansing aspect was still prevalent in that area at that time.

Getting older every day though and not one of the youngsters on here anymore!

Ha, and only a few years older than my DD, just a nipper.

Seven years older.

I was born in 1960!

Just realised, Wilma, you're not that much older than my eldest son!

I was churched after DD was born, you were supposed not to visit anyone's home until you had been blessed in church. Thankfully DD was baptised at just under 6 weeks otherwise I would have been a hermit

My English granny talked about 'churching' which I assume she underwent when she had her five children. My Mum didn't because when she married my Dad, she started attending the Church of Scotland in which I was baptised, rather than the Scottish Episcopal (Anglican) Church in which she had been confirmed.

I will still be asking her dj, so I will let you know (if I can remember!).

I was in the 60s, Wilma, when my eldest son was born. C of E.

My Mum is on holiday so I will have to wait to ask her about churching in our family, but I'll bet my Granny was churched because she was strict RC and a staunch Mothers' Union member. I suspect my Mum wasn't because we were born in the 60s.

Talking about covering your head in church, I remember in my teens wearing a black mantilla and thinking about how holy I was! Can't think where it came from!

Annieb I used to like wearing a hat, to church, it was trendy with long hair in the 60's( not the right attitude I know, but I was a teenager.)