Had my 3 children in 76, 78 & 81.
My eldest started to arrive 36 hours before he actually arrived. Hospital left me in a side ward on my own ( sent my husband home) having shaved me, given me the enema, & attached a defective baby monitor to the bump. No one came near me except to tell me not to moan so much. By the time my waters broke & I saw they were green (baby had passed his 1st motion before birth) I was hysterical. I was given a tranquilizer to calm me. Unfortunately, this knocked me out so I have very few memories of his actual birth. We stayed in hospital for 10 days being taught how to wash & change the babies. Strangely tho, no one bothered to teach us how to breast feed which could be the reason my nipples tore & I developed mastisis.
With my eldest daughter in 78, my waters broke 4 weeks early, on the bus on my way to the anti natal check with the doctor. He promptly examined me , said the baby was on the way & sent me home...on the bus!
Later that night I was rushed in to the local maternity unit. No time for a shave or enema, but that could be cos I was recovering from chicken pox. None of the medical staff wanted to deal with me, so after putting my legs in the stirrups (which always seemed to face the door!), I was cut to "allow the baby an easier birth"(episiotomy). She arrived but was taken straightway to the prem unit & I was left for 30 mins, legs in stirrups, to be stitch up but no one wanted the job cos of the CP. Finally, I was shunted into a side ward & left alone, without drugs to relieve the pain of the many stitches, & discharged the next morning. As a result, I haemorrhaged & was returned to the self same hospital for restitching & 2 weeks bed rest.
However, by 1981, NHS seemed to have got their act together. I had a designated midwife (a fantastic Jamaican lady) who saw me every ante natal appointment & actually delivered my youngest in 20 mins. No fuss, no drama, no shaving or enemas - just a wonderfully supportive person who I knew & trusted to help me.