My birth

[BillyF]

Mulling over my life ( as you do), I was thinking about my birth.

I was born in mid 1940s in a maternity home. I was wondering what this would have cost.

[Viktoria]

Depends if it was pre NHS or after .

I seem to remember a Maternity home ,started by the Crossley family.
(Crossley   springs and motors)
In Ancoats ,a very deprived area of Manchester .
I doubt there would be a fee, as it was to ensure some decent care for new mothers ,many whose homes did not even have a hot water supply .

Later run by The Salvation Army.
Viktoria.

[coombs]

NHS began in 1948 I think, so if you say you was born mid 1940s then it would have been just before. Not sure about fees though, as Viktoria said, it may have been for free.

While on the subject of births, many of us will have seen our birth certs, but no doubt some who do genealogy have looked at their own entry in the GRO indexes online, or in person in those huge ledgers at Somerset House and later FRC in Clerkenwell.

[Treetotal]

My OH was born at home in 1948 and my late Ma-In-Law said that the midwife charged 3 shillings, she said when saw him, he was so small and skinny that she should have only been charged half price

Carol

[BillyF]

Thanks for your interest.

It was 1945 !!!!! ( can`t really believe it) in a North Lincolnshire town.

I wish I`d had the sense to ask my mum, she didn`t pass away until 2014 so I had plenty of time. One thing i "can" remember  is that she said they "had to see a specialist to get me"

The 3 shillings is interesting, I would imagine hundreds in today`s money.

[Treetotal]

I was an NHS Freebie 
Carol

[jackella]

Some families would probably have had a type of health insurance to cover births etc.

[zetlander]

Recall my grandfather telling me that when my mother was born in the late 1920's he had got the horse and cart and gone to the nearest town to pick up the midwife  --  this was in rural North Wales.
Not sure how much involvement doctors had in those days.
As my grandmother was 45 and this was her first baby she had been given some tablets to 'keep the baby small' during her pregnancy in the hope that labour would be easier - can't guess what they might have been!  Anyway baby arrived very quickly weighing 4 lbs !!

My other grandmother - one of fifteen - all born at home in a very rural Welsh village - local midwife summoned each time - recall grandmother saying how when her twin baby brothers were born (1901) she - a ten year old - had to cover them in olive oil - wrap them in cotton wool and put them in a basket by the fire and it was her job to look after them. They survived - when they were 4 months old their mother was expecting another baby!

[garden genie]

It is an interesting question Billy. When my elder brother was born in 1951 my parents were living in South Buckinghamshire. Apparently facilities were still less than adequate after the war and mother was told in no uncertain terms that she couldn't possibly have her baby in hospital - she must have it at home! So she booked herself into the nice maternity home near her mothers house back in Cheshire instead. I can't imagine it was run by the NHS but I never thought to ask if it cost much! She did the same when I was expected, but I was a breech baby and the doctor moved us to a hospital, which made the home staff very indignant. I doubt if mother was happy either as it wasn't even the nearest hospital!
When people asked where I was born I used to think why they wanted to know before answering - we lived in one county, moved to another for the birth and ended up being born in a third. Nowadays it is probably commonplace as my son lives in a county with no maternity facilities at all!