Labor and Delivery (the old days)

Having a baby these days is certainly different than when I had mine.  With my first one, I went to the hospital with pain around 10 PM.  They took me into the labor room.  They said I was in labor but a long way off until delivery.  They would not even let my husband come in with me at first. There was no Phone, or TV there or music or anything. They never hooked me up to any IV or any monitors at all.  They checked for dilation rectally.  Also, I had to be completely shaved. They let me husband in but every time they checked me, he had to leave the room. Labor pains were supposed to be controlled by breathing right and biting down on a cloth. Who can concentrate on breathing when they are in pain?

They did not give me anything for pain until quite a bit later and it was just a shot of Demerol.  The pain was really bad and the nurses kept telling me that having pains made the baby come. They checked me every so often for the time between contractions.  I was in labor all night.  They finally said I was ready to deliver. It was about 2 in the afternoon, about 16 hours of labor. My husband was not allowed in the delivery room.

I delivered with no pain medication at all. My water had not broken and they broke it just before they told me to push. I could feel everything and I felt like I was stretching out to the point of splitting open. Then she was here. The pain was gone and I was full of joy.  My husband didn't even get to see either one of us until they had done all the stuff they needed to do in the delivery room. Then he finally saw her for a few minutes in the hall.  They took me to a recovery room for about three hours. After the delivery, they kept coming in and pressing on my stomach to make sure my uterus went back and got firm. That hurt almost as much as the labor and delivery. I do not remember getting anything for pain after the delivery. I had no IV at any time. They wrapped me up in what seemed like a great big diaper to hold everything in place. It was done up with safety pins and I was told to wear it for a month.  They took me to my room about three hours after the delivery and the room was shared with three other women. I did finally have a phone by my bed.

My parents nor any of my friends were not allowed to visit, not even to look in the window where the babies were kept. The babies were not left with their mothers. They stayed in the nursery except to be fed every four hours. Then whisked away after only 30 minutes. My husband was not allowed to visit during feeding time because there were three other women in the room and some were nursing. Visiting hours were from 3-4 in the afternoon and 7-8 at night. So that was the only time husband's could visit.

I stayed there for one day. The hospital sent me home with three glass bottles of formula and instructions how to make formula.  They sent this even though I was nursing. It was like they were trying to tell me that I would not be able to nurse and to give the baby the formula. Back then, the baby clothes were not cute like today.  I put her in a long nightgown with a drawstring and a cloth diaper that drowned her. They did not have disposable diapers then. We used cloth diapers with ugly plastic pants over them.  I did quite well except for pain where I had stitches after my episiotomy. That hurt for quite some time. Mothers of babies delivered by C-section were put to sleep like when you have surgery and then kept in the hospital for 5 days.

All my future pregnancies were about the same except they were much faster and easier that is except for Matt.  When you have a baby fast, they don't even have time to give you pain medication because the baby comes so fast. They changed their rules about dad's in the delivery room in 1970. My husband could go in then but he had to wear a bunch surgical type clothes.  About the same time, husband's could remain in the labor room and didn't have to go out and there was music and TVs in the room.  We still had to share a room with three other women and the babies were not left with their mothers. In 1970, they used disposable diapers and disposable bottles for formula. They no longer shaved you.  At home, I still used cloth diapers. Nobody used disposables unless they were traveling.

When I had Matt, they had epidurals and heart monitors. They also gave me an IV.The epidural was good but it only lasted an hour at a time and they had to keep giving me another one every hour. In between that, the pain was terrible because he was in a posterior position and all the labor was in my back and felt like somebody was hitting me with a hammer. My water had broken with him but labor pains had not started so they put me on the pitocin but would not let me have the epidural for a long time because they said it slowed down the labor. Back then, they had no sympathy for women in labor. Just breath right and take it.  When I had Matt, my parents could come look in the window at the baby but not come in my room. My other children were not allowed. I still had to share a room with three other women.  It was kind of nice though to have the other woman there for company.

I would say that my easiest delivery was with Jennifer. The fastest with Monica, (I almost had her in the car) and hardest my first and with Tammy and Matt. (both Tammy and Matt were in the wrong position) They did not have epidurals when I had Tammy so they gave me a cervical block but it didn't help much.

So I think woman these day are lucky that they don't have to go through so much pain. First babies are the ones we really need to have a lot of help with pain with.

My mother told me when she had me, they made woman stay flat on their backs for 10 days after delivery for fear they would bleed to death. But they didn't give them anything for pain either. My mother was in labor with me for about 36 hours and the Dr. blamed her for marrying a big man and they she should not have such big babies. I only weighed 7 lbs 8 oz. My brother weight 8 lbs 12 oz and he came fast. So the Dr. was nuts.  She also got an infection after my birth because the Dr. did not care her the right way and she nearly died.  I certainly don't know how my mother-in-law had all those kids and home with only a midwife. I am surprised that they were able to go through that. I guess woman these days are big sissies, but if I were having a baby today, I would take all the help I could with the pain.