Having Scott at home

Having Scott at home wasn't my 1st choice, but in the 70s if you already had one child and it was a normal birth then you had to have the second and third baby at home, the forth you had in hospital for reasons I never understood. But it was the best decision in the end. Because of having Justin I knew what was happening and I didn't have to leave him to go into hospital. Scott was a planned baby I didn't want to leave a big age gap between the two of them, all though I didn't quite plan for a Xmas baby.

I had a bit of morning sickness in the early months then the rest of the pregnancy went pretty smoothly, I had a little bump the size of a football and weighed 10 stone at 9 months We didn't have scans then, there were baby books but they didn't have much information I didn't already know. I had to go to the hospital for anti natal and blood test appointments and the hospital booked the midwife. Scott was due on the 21st Dec 1971 so I knew who the midwife was going to be. She also brought another trainee midwife with her. She had delivered many babies before and was very qualified, she was an Irish Midwife and very lovely.

I went into Labour on Thursday the 23rd Dec 1971 about 6.30 am, just after Bob left for work on the last day before the Xmas holidays. He had severe back pain and no one could get hold of him. Bob’s mum came over to look after Justin. We lived in a tower block on the 12th floors and we didn't have a telephone so someone, I can't remember who, went to phone the midwife. She had to cycle from the other side of Barking and climb 12 floors, because the lifts had broken in our building, so she was knackered when she arrived. After her examining me she told me that the baby would arrive at 9 o’clock that night and would come back later with the trainee midwife. I think she did pop back at some point in the afternoon but went off again. In the mean time I was pottering about at home in labour trying to organise Xmas.

Both the midwifes turned up about 7 o’clock I think, by that time the pains had stopped temporally of course so we sat around drinking tea and coffee for the next hour. By 9 o’clock Scott was born, no complications everything went well. I had gas and air the last hour to help with the pain. Both the Midwifes were brilliant, especially the trainee she came in every day for 2 weeks. You wasn't aloud out until they discharged you. She would stay and wash and dress Justin for me and leave the flat nearly drunk having a whisky every time she came round.
It was a strange feeling having a baby over Xmas we had our Xmas dinner in the bedroom, Scott asleep in his cot, Justin in the high chair, me in bed and Bob with his dinner on his lap.

Scott weighed 6 pounds & 14 ounces and was 20 inches I still have all the anti natal books for both of them. I didn't know what sex it would be, they didn't know back then and I didn't particularly want any girls although I'm glad to have a granddaughter and a grandson would be nice.