Young women today can hardly imagine how different the approach to pregnancy was 50 years ago. Pregnancies were rarely planned: they just happened. Children were often not told that a new baby was expected. There seemed to be great embarrassment, almost shame, about pregnancy (because it was obvious evidence of – whisper it – sex?). Pregnant women concealed themselves as soon as they started to ’show’.
When I was 5 and my young sister was on the way, Mum didn’t go out for months before the birth, not even to come to our school concert. If she was gardening and saw someone coming along the street, she ducked inside. Dad did all the shopping. My brother and I were completely in the dark about why Mum’s belly had become so big. The boy next door said she must have a cyst. A cyst? What was that? Imagine how scared we were when one morning Dad told us that Mum had gone to hospital during the night. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ my brother asked. ‘We’ll soon have news,’ answered Dad, looking nervous. Soon my aunt rushed in shouting ‘It’s a girl!’ We then understood that Mum had gone to hospital to ‘get’ a baby. ‘What about the cyst?’ I asked. ‘What cyst?’ My brother explained. Dad laughed: ‘That was your new sister.’ We were relieved, but completely mystified.
My mother later told me that she and most women of her generation had little understanding of pregnancy and childbirth. There was almost no information available. Antenatal classes didn’t exist. Women were advised about eating right things and putting their feet for an hour every afternoon during pregnancy, and told how to know that lab had started, but that was all.
Today there’s a wealth of information about child-bearing. During their pregnancies, women are given boo that tell them about the whole process. This information is reinforced by talks, films and videos shown in antenatal classes, which fathers and other family members may attend. Bookshops carry a large array of books that give clear description beautifully illustrated, of every stage conception, embryo and foetal development, what happens to your body; how to look after it best during pregnancy, and the stages of labour. And there wonderful books that help explain it all to children of every age.
I won’t repeat here information that is so readily available from such a range excellent sources. I will discuss other aspects of pregnancy that are not so oft; covered, and some of the problems and
questions that are frequently asked.
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