1974 Maternity Ward Pamphlet for New Mothers

[Danielle_NZ]

While blog hopping I found this... thought it was rather ammusing...


This pamphlet was given to pregnant women at a hospital in Southern California in 1974.

We of the Maternity Services of _____ Hospital welcome you. We sincerely hope your time spent with us will be happy and rewarding. So that you will feel comfortable with the routines necessary to our department, we have outlined them for you. They have come about because of the need to protect you (and through you, your baby.) For example, all but your most essential contacts with “outsiders” must be eliminated so your baby receives the best possible chance during the first few days of life, since he has built up very little resistance, as yet. (Most of these regulations are based on the laws and regulations of the State Department of Health.)

WHILE YOU ARE IN THE LABOR AND DELIVERY AREAS—

• You may have one visitor at a time while you are in the labor-room wing.
• You should not get out of bed without the permission of the nurse.
• You should not eat or drink anything without the permission of the nurse.
• All ear-rings, pins and hair rollers should be removed from your hair before going into the delivery room as these may prove hazardous.
• Do not chew gum without the permission of the nurse.
• If you wear dentures, removable bridges or contact lenses be sure the nurse is aware of this before you go into the delivery room.

IN THE MATERNITY AREA (AFTER YOUR BABY IS BORN)—

• After you have washed your hands, in preparation for your baby at feeding time, do not smoke or use the telephone until your baby is taken back to the nursery.
• Do not walk in the halls while babies are out with the mothers. Again, the fewer contacts a baby has with people, the better he will be.
• Visitors may not sit on the beds whether they are occupied or not. Remember your baby is placed on your bed while he is with you.
• If you have had a saddle block anesthetic, stay flat in bed. Do not raise your head on your elbow. Stay flat until a nurse tells you it is all right to sit up.
• A nurse must assist you when you get out of bed for the first time. You may be weaker than you think!

Menus:
Someone will collect your menu, so do not leave it on your food tray.
Be sure you mark all desired food and condiments.
Mark size of portions desired.
Be sure your name is on all three sections of your menu.

Since your baby is especially wrapped so that he can safely be taken back into the nursery, it is requested that you not unwrap your baby when he is with you. If you desire to see him unwrapped, one of the nursery nurses will do it for you.

Do not sit on the side of the bed to feed your bay. You and the baby will be safer and more comfortable if you have a back rest.

The nursery nurses are available at any time to assist you with breast feeding or to answer any questions you may have.

When you are ready for your baby, be sure that the top sheet and spread are pulled up so that the baby can be placed on the spread.

It is suggested that, if you are nursing your baby, you gown opens in the front for convenience.

The schedule of activities for the mother must be planned around the baby’s visits to the mother.
Listed below are the approximate time that there activities are scheduled:
1) Awakened at 5 A.M. to prepare for baby’s first visit of the day. Coffee is available at this time.

2) The babies are brought out to the mothers at: 5:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M. – 1:30 P.M. – 5:30 P.M. Babies are brought out at 10:00 P.M. and 2:00 A.M. only at the request of the mother or the pediatrician.

3) Meals are served at:
7:45 A.M. – 11:45 A.M. – 4:45 P.M.

Nourishments are served at:
10:30 – 11:00; 2:30 – 3:00; and 9:00 P.M.

4) Showers can be taken:
8:15 to 9:30 A.M. (and other times, if necessary)

5) “Peri-Care”: at 4:00 P.M.

Heat lamps – after shower, and at 4:00 P.M.

6) Visiting hours:

2:30 to 4:00 P.M. and 7:00 to 8:00 P.M.

7) Babies are shown (through Nursery Windows):

Immediately after birth, and 3:30 to 4:00 P.M.

and 7:30 to 8:00 P.M.



WE APPRECIATE YOUR HELPING US DO A BETTER JOB.

[PumpkinZulu]

[Maruschke]

Oh those poor hungry newborns! I can't imagine not demand feeding a newborn, or unwrapping for a cuddle. I wonder how BF gets established with a 12 hour gap between feeds.

[boobaloo]

wow. thank god we live in a different era.
poor little hungry mother-starved bubbas, and poor mummas not being able to bond.

[CrazyLady]

That's horrible! Viewing times and babies having visiting times? :O

[Aligater]

my mum can remember having all of us brought in for feeding and we were given sugar water overnight. She succesfully fed 2 out of 4 babies. 1 had health problems and my other sister was her 1st born and she didnt know anything. Also they stayed in for 10-14 days after birth

[Persephone1]

You may be weaker than you think!

[CrazyLady]

You may be weaker than you think!

HAHA! I just got a friend message me on FB that said she'd punch the midwives if they said she had to follow this pamphlet!

[AwesomeFoursome]

That is terrible.

[Early Kids]

Those poor poor babies

I am so glad the times have changed!

[Just Me]

Funny thing is, that reading that, there are still some of those that the local hospital here follows now - not allowing visitors to sit on your bed, the stuff about the menus. It is interesting to read how things have changed and scary to think that some things haven't!

Thanks for sharing, very interesting.

[Fleur]

I read that with mild amusement until I got to the schedule... I cannot imagine not having my baby with me all the time! That would have been awful beyond words

[sasha]

So regimented!! Can you imagine having to ask for your baby to be unwrapped so you could see him/her? I thought it was interesting also that all the babies they had back then were obviously boys...

My mum and I were talking about my brother's (very fast) birth, and she got to the hospital with literally minutes to spare, and the midwife said to her, "Well, I suppose there's no time to give you an enaema. You know, Dr ______ doesn't like his patients to birth without having had an enaema." And Mum was thinking, "well, I would rather not poo in the delivery room either, but this baby is coming NOW!!"

Interestingly, I have had help to and from the toilet both times (getting into and out of bed) after the births - not necessarily from the midwife, M and Mum helped me as well, I think. I was "weaker than I thought"!

[TeniBear]

Anyone but my baby tries to wake me up at 5am right after I've had a baby, they won't know what hit 'em (though I suppose I'll make an exception if I'm sharing a room - anyone under the age of four days is allowed to wake me up at 5am?)

And if they weren't allowed to unwrap their babies... what if baby pooed? Who changed the nappy? Did they never have to change the baby until they went home? Even when I was born, my mum was taught how to change my nappy (though she gave up on the clothies a few days in)

And No hair rollers allowed in the delivery room? What in god's name happened that they felt that needed special mention? Did they have a lot of labouring mothers come to hospital in rollers?

Oh my goodness, the viewing hours, too! If I were to have my bub in this hospital, and Scott had to go right back to work the next day, it's possible he wouldn't get to see the baby until we came home - He'd probably be working right through both times

So glad things have changed... The booklet I got at the hospital pretty much implies they'll think less of you if you DON'T want to room in with bub I think it also said they encourage co-sleeping, but I can't remember...

[Taurean]

Random. Not far fetched though. My inlaws were visiting recently and my FIL was telling us about SILs arrival. He has dropped MIL off at the hospital in labour and got a phone call a short time later to say he had another daughter. He was told to pop up the following day to meet her and off he went to bed!

That was in the early seventies. Weird hey!

[TeniBear]

There's another one linked in now, from 1947 - just the rates for the rooms and services though: 1947 Maternity Ward Pamphlet from Santa Monica

It is pretty interesting to read these, at least

[Pandora]

You may be weaker than you think!

teheh. This was the only one I agreed with...I KNEW I has hypoglycamic and gonna pass out and they didnt believe me!.til they had to call maintenance when I feinted and got my arm stuck behind the bathroom rail

[loulabelle]

Oh dear!