Okay, so the votes are in and placenta-container it is! Ran it by my Dad and he thinks that makes sense. I also asked him if he was actually in the room with Mom when she was giving birth.
I was the first born child (1958) and was born in a maternity hospital due to some slight inconvenience with me coming out backwards. My Dad didn't know I'd been born until he came round and visited around 9am the next morning, by which time I was already three hours old.
But my brother (he for whom the jam jar was needed) was born at home in 1961. The midwife told my Dad he needed to leave the room and his job was to go downstairs and pace around until the job was done. He said he sat in the sitting room, which was sited directly under the bedroom, and tried to read a book. He knew that everything would be okay because he'd "seen how it was done on the telly.. and everything's always alright, despite the screaming!" When everything was done and dusted, he was called back upstairs to view the results.
However, when my next brother was born at home in 1965, my Dad was actually allowed to stay in the room and he saw everything. His only comment about that was, "Now I understand a bit more what all the screaming was about."
So, if the father was not at work and wanted to be there, I guess it the midwife (and the mother!) might have had a bit of a say in whether he was allowed in or not.
Pamela
