Your mothers' take on motherhood.

I was born in hospital 1954. Second child, five 1/2 years after my brother.

All I can remember is my Mum telling me that all her pains were in her back. Also that they were so thrilled that I was a girl as they had been living with her parents and now they would be offered a council flat.

Ooh, a back labour!
I've heard of those. but I don't know what they are

I was a second child, and was born at home.
When my arrival was imminent, the midwife dragged my dad, who had been keeping out of the way downstairs, into the bedroom. She told him that he'd been there at the start, 9 months earlier, and he could damned well be there at the end, too.

My Grandma came next day to help my mum. Apparently the first thing she did was start cleaning out the already clean and tidy display cabinet!

Precisely nothing.

Fathers were not allowed near when I was born in hospital just at the start of the NHS But it cost my parents nothing for her 10 day stay.
However I was the 2nd girl and mum cried with disappointment until DF told her they could always try again!!
Mum was given something to knock her out so wasn't conscious at the actual birth . She said I was brought to her at teatime, with my hair in a curl on the top of my head and smelling clean. None of this skin on skin in those days!
She told me, before I went into labour the first time, that the pain was akin to being torn apart. Not nice.

Poor Floradora. That's a terrible story . Your poor mum. xx

Mum was given twilight sleep with her first baby, my sister, thought that was ok as she was more or less out of it for the birth.

By the time I arrived, nearly 3 years later, the new, younger GP, (home births back in the early 50’s), did not believe in TS and my birth was much more painful.

“The sharpest pain, but the soonest forgot” was how mum described childbirth. I tend to agree.

My mother had heard of “natural childbirth” which was just beginning to gain popularity in 1951. She went to some classes, especially relaxation. I was about 2 weeks overdue and she had gone for a long walk the previous day in the hope of getting me started! It must have been a relatively short labour for a first baby - she went into the nursing home around midday and I was born about 8-45 pm - natural, easy birth, from what she told me.
Interestingly I had short labours and easy births for my 5 - I took a bit of gas and air on last one just to see what it was like! My 2 daughters were similar - one had 2nd baby at home delivered by her husband, he arrived so fast.

I was born in 1951 in a little back to back house in Birmingham. I made a slightly early appearance after the midwife told mum that nothing was happening and she'd left to complete her other visits.
All hell broke loose after mum drank a strong cup of tea. My father was driving frantically round the Neighbourhood trying to find the midwife whilst my granny struggled to get my mother upstairs into the bedroom.
Finally dad arrived with midwife and her bike in the van and she proceeded to drag my bewildered father up the stairs with her.
He helped with my birth and said it was the most amazing experience of his life.
The birth of my second child mirrored my mother's experience with me. A strong cup of tea worked wonders.
In answer to the OP, my mother didn't say much about childbirth but my grandmother did,
"It's the pains of hell."

I was born in a wheelchair as they were taking my mother to the delivery room and she gave birth to my sister on her own as the midwife had left the room. I had my first with some gas and air and my son with no anaesthesia at all.

My mum quite often went to help out when people had home births.
I wonder if it was because she was meticulously clean?

MissAdventure

Ooh, a back labour!
I've heard of those. --but I don't know what they are--

Means the baby is lying with it's back towards the mothers back and if it stays that way in labour has to turn all the way round as it travels down. Sometimes leads to a longer and more painful labour. If it doesn't turn it is born facing up (face to pubes). DD2 was born that way though she was 5 weeks early.

I was born in a different town as my mother was unmarried and sent to a mother and baby home. I was to be adopted and she had to provide a layette for me. She was in labour for 3 days (she says) and I was covered in green stuff which meant I was in distress but not so recognised then. When my granny and aunt saw me they decided I would not be adopted so went home with my Mum.

Well, I didn't know any of that!
Thank you, but why must the baby turn?
It's all a mystery...

I had two ‘back’ labours. As Elaine says, it occurs when the baby is facing the wrong way in the pelvis and causes pains in the back. Normally a foetus faces the back so that the widest part of the head fits through the widest part of the pelvis. If the baby isn’t so positioned, it’s a heck of a tight squeeze for the head to pass through the pelvis. Quart in a pint pot comes to mind! ???

Ah, I see, now.
Well, I can imagine, unfortunately!

Blimey. Some of you had conversations with your mothers?

I arrived at 5 minutes passed 4,in the afternoon,"too late for dinner,too early for tea" and 3 days before my due date.
The great floods occured in Canvey Island that claimed many lives, on this day.
I was an easy delivery weighing 8lb 4oz.

My younger brother was a different story,mum had rhesus negative blood,he was lucky not to have been a blue baby,apparently he was in wrong position and had to be turned manually internally and she was stitched from "earhole to breakfast time", he developed an abcess on his nipple that had to be cut and drained,mum had a retained swab left inside her,they where in hospital for over 3 weeks,and during that time we moved to a house 20 miles away from where we lived before.

I was born at home in heavy snow in January. Fortunately my dad had a car as he had to fetch the midwife who wouldn’t otherwise have got there. She had a busy afternoon as I’m told she also delivered twins for a relative of my mother, one of whom was sadly stillborn, as well as the baby of a young girl on the street who hadn’t known she was pregnant (some of my layette went straight to her). My parents had been warned to expect a very small baby and I weighed in at ten and a half pounds. Incredibly the same thing happened to my DDIL seven years ago!

Oh, that's big!
All these years later, and they can still get it wrong.
At least it keeps an element of surprise!

ElaineI

MissAdventure

Ooh, a back labour!
I've heard of those. --but I don't know what they are--

Means the baby is lying with it's back towards the mothers back and if it stays that way in labour has to turn all the way round as it travels down. Sometimes leads to a longer and more painful labour. If it doesn't turn it is born facing up (face to pubes). DD2 was born that way though she was 5 weeks early.

Both my daughters were facing the wrong way and I had the terrible back pains and a long labour. I often wonder if it's the layout of my pelvic area, and maybe they were more comfortable that way round. Now 40 years later I have dreadful trouble in the pelvic and hip area and would really like an MRI scan.

Did you have the twighlight analgesia?

I was a honeymoon baby! I was born in a Nursing Home on the same day as triplets. Mum said all the midwives and nurses scooted off to watch this rare occurrence and left her on her own!

I was born in a private nursing home. If we ever talked about childbirth she would just say it's so easy, darling, you just go into a slumber and suddenly you have a baby o-0

Never understood what on earth she was on about but I've found out, only recently, that she was given the twilight analgesia .

Oh and my father was useless. Mum was getting twinges and suggested they head off. Dad didn't want to. Told her to wait as there was something good on TV.

My mother disliked babies, children, “ common “ people, anyone who wasn’t white, British, Church of England etc. No idea why she had children! She complained that she had to give birth at home “ because the hospitals were “ full up with unmarried mothers”.
She was quite bizarre!