My birth

[Treetotal]

 I had the choice of staying in the hospital for either 10 days or 2 days, as a new Mother, I thought 10 days would be best but I went home after 2 days.
I think in most cases, people recover from illness or surgery more quickly if they are mobile. The days have gone were people who are in hospital stay in bed, if they are mobile, they usually get them out of bed to sit in a chair.
Carol

[brigidmac]

Great topic

I had a laugh at some of your topics
I was born at home as was my elder sister but we always joked That she was born in the bath
 because she was born in the town of BATH

Younger sister was quite ill born in hospital but a big baby .

We were all post NHS  so care was free.

[Viktoria]

What a Stoic, but I wonder if she was O.K in the long term.?
Things are often not manifest at the time but problems can arise later.
In any case ,most women are in labour for much longer than your neighbour and are very tired.
My first was exactly 24 hours.
Second about the same and third about eighteen hours.
I was dead on my feet for a couple of days at least with all three and I wanted to feed them myself, not bottle feed,  so rested as much as I could.
I don’t quite understand your last sentence dowdstree.

Viktoria.

[brigidmac]

Not about cost but another thing we forget about the past is expectant mothers didn't know what they were expecting

Several methods were used to predict child's gender

My late aunt B 1927 told a lovely story from when she was about 4

Her cousin of a similar age was on standby when her aunt gave birth in Scotland
He came running down the street shouting
 " it's a girl "  half an hour later he was shouting   " twai bairns "
 to everyone s surprise
They weren't expecting twins !

Another 90 year old told me about being totally unprepared for twins when she gave birth .

Nowadays:  twins . gender.health problems .can all be predicted .

[Viktoria]

Yes, no scans ,only the “ listening tube” placed on mother- to be ‘s stomach to hear the baby’s heartbeat..

And as for father in the room ,no way!
Mine would have needed more attention than I was getting ,besides it is not exactly a dignified event!
Mine fell down the stairs as it was,mind you for some reason.best  known to himself he had tied his shoelaces together whilst anxiously sitting on the top stair outside the bedroom,so when told to go in to hold his son,he stood up and felll downstairs ,told to stand in the airing cupboard where it was warm, he never actually came to me ,handed  baby  back to midwife at bedroom door and had to go  or he would have been late for work!
A sackable offence at his office.
No kiss ir hug or enquiry was I O.K etc.
I brought that up frequently in the following 57 years our marriage but in his defence he worked for Scrooge and Marley  at that time and his main thoughts would be to not lose his job with a new responsibility.
But it was handy to bring up now and then. 
Oh happy days for all that.
Must get on it is Friday and a house to clean well as much as possible .
Viktoria.

[DianaCanada]

Great topic

I had a laugh at some of your topics
I was born at home as was my elder sister but we always joked That she was born in the bath
 because she was born in the town of BATH

A slight change in topic, but I always like to say I have female relatives who died in battle (Battle, Sussex, that is!).

[Erato]

I guess the GI Bill paid for me.  My father was a college student at the time so he didn't have any money.  Once my mother was up and around, she went to work as a secretary in the chemistry department and she took me with her in a cardboard box.

[maddys52]

Fascinating stories, great thread. 

I remember my grandmother telling me that she had no memory of giving birth to her two children (1927 and 1931), and she assumed she had been under anesthetic as she didn't feel a thing, so must have been in hospital (I guess) - in Sydney. No idea how it was paid for or how much, how long she would have stayed or whether in fact it was true.

[Top-of-the-hill]

  I can't say I have much memory of the births of my children either- I think I have blanked it out! The first was a long, tedious labour, emergency caesarean, 2 weeks in hospital, the second ended with forceps.
  If I ever found myself walking along a certain corridor in that hospital, I always remembered being rushed along it on a trolley.