Having babies on Canvey in the fifties and sixties You might ask "What would a mere male know about having babies?.:roll:" well I will tell you. Nearly everyone had their babies at home during this era and it was the expectant dads job, when the wife said she was due, to jump on his bike and cycle around to the mid-wife's house and let her know the situation ,and you were always asked the same questions " has the water burst? how long between each contraction? Etc". Now if the mid-wife was out on another call she left the name and address of her backup nurse so off you cycled (no matter what time of the day or night it was or the weather conditions were) to find the other one and hoped and prayed that she was in.
The midwives I can recall that worked on Canvey were a Nurse Robson and a Nurse Consella ,one rode a bike and the other drove a Morris minor car When our first one was due Nurse Robson came and that's when she took over ,she came in the door and the first words she said in a very draconian voice to the poor nervous father to be was "Make yourself useful and get me some clean towels and plenty of boiling water "when you had done all of that and sat down she found you another task, but the midwives were very efficient and very good .I wonder just how many Canvyites can say "I had my bare bottom smacked by Nurse Consella or Nurse Robson",:oops::oops: thousands I would guess.
Now the in thing is all hospital deliveries to eliminate any complications but I would back the success rate of those old midwives against any hospital of today. being less clinical and more comforting.
My memories are inside me - they're not things or a place - I can take them anywhere.