1950s
Cicely Wyant gave birth to John on November 12 1958 No one talked about childbirth in the 50s.
When I had my eldest, Jane, in 1947, I knew vaguely what would happen: I knew there would be a midwife or a doctor with you, and I hoped I'd get through it on the day.
I'd had Jane at home and it was a difficult delivery, very painful; I had Sue in 1949 in a nursing home and that was very regimented - you had to bring a huge amount of things in with you; even Dettol. So when I found out I was having another baby - and in those days there were no pregnancy tests, you just waited until you'd missed two periods - I thought I'd have a home birth.
On the day I went into labour, the midwife - a sweet thing - came to see how I was doing in the morning and then came back around 9pm for the birth. I was in bed - it was taken for granted that's where you'd be, lying on your back - and it was all very easy. The midwife had nothing to offer in the way of pain relief, but she was reassuring and kind. Jack, my husband, was downstairs. We didn't discuss the possibility of him being at the birth; it's not what anyone did in those days and neither of us would have wanted it.
In the 50s antenatal education was unknown, and information-starved women flocked to the newly formed NCT's regular screenings of Childbirth Without Fear.
1960s
Judy Taylor gave birth to Sarah Jayne on May 6 1969
When we arrived at Preston hospital, with me in labour, Ian was sent straight home. They said he could ring in the morning to find out if the baby had been born, but there was no question at all that he'd even stay on the premises.
I was taken to the delivery room, where I was told off for waiting too long at home: apparently I was too far gone for the routine shave and enema. The room was very clinical, it felt like an operating theatre. I remember being scared, and I'm a confident person. For the delivery itself I had to put my legs up in stirrups.
I held Sarah Jayne briefly after she was born, but she was soon whisked away and I was left on my own for hours waiting to be stitched. I didn't want to breastfeed, so she was bottle-fed in the nursery; but even the breastfed babies got bottles at night from the midwives. No one tried to persuade me to breastfeed: there was no pressure at all.
When Ian came to the hospital the next day, he was shown Sarah Jayne in the nursery. He didn't get to hold her until she came home, eight days later. Holding babies wasn't encouraged: even when they brought them out of the nursery, you were frowned on for picking them up.
The NCT's campaign to admit men to the delivery room was given a fillip with the news that the Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra, had her husband with her for the birth of their son, James, in 1964.
1970s
Nina Smith gave birth to Polly on May 20 1977
I wanted a natural birth, but in those days interventions were the norm. Induction was routine, although it was being questioned by the NCT, whose classes I attended. Home birth wasn't an option, but I did manage to book into a hospital that had a relaxed policy on induction - in some places, you were just induced on your due date and that was that.
I went into labour naturally, but had the routine shave and enema - very unpleasant. Even more shocking was the fact that they didn't make clear to you when they were giving pethidine: the midwife just came in with a hypodermic and said, here's something for the pain. But we'd been warned about this in NCT classes so I said, no thank you: I can cope. The midwife was most affronted.
My husband's right to stay with me wasn't questioned, but he wasn't made welcome. He had to leave the room when I was being examined, and had to get gowned up for the delivery. Episiotomy was routine in those days, so I was cut before Polly was born. It was very sore afterwards.
The Peel Report, in 1970, said all deliveries should be in hospital- inductions on the due date were common, fetal monitoring was ubiquitous, birth was on the bed and midwives were doctors' handmaidens. The NCT challenged this medicalisation vociferously.
1980s
Serena Colchester gave birth to Tamara on December 6 1985
Tamara was my third baby, but this was the first pregnancy in which I had an ultrasound scan. It immediately plunged me into anxiety: they weren't that knowledgeable about what was normal and what wasn't in those days, as looking at babies in utero was a new science. They said the baby's head was too small, and that I'd have to come back for a re-scan in a fortnight. I spent the next two weeks terrified, but when I went back they found everything was fine. No one seemed to give a second thought to the stress I'd been put under, and all needlessly.
Like my earlier two babies, Tamara was born in hospital. What was different this time, though, was that domino deliveries had come into being: you could call a midwife in labour, be examined at home, and then be accompanied to hospital by the midwife who'd be with you for the delivery. It was all about providing continuity of care, and it worked extremely well for me.
My earlier babies had been born on a bed, with me lying on my back, but by 1985 there was a move towards off-the-bed, active delivery, and I made it clear I wasn't keen on being on the bed at all (although it was handy for my husband, Charlie, who had a nap there!) I laboured on the floor on a mat and bean bags, and it was much easier to have gravity on my side as the baby descended and the labour progressed.
When the baby was born I put her to the breast straightaway: she wasn't taken away. I'm phobic about hospitals and didn't want to be there a second longer than I had to be, so I was delighted when we were discharged from the delivery suite a few hours later.
The NCT campaigned to encourage hospitals to allow women to give birth off the bed (active birth).Attitudes were changing: when Wendy Savage, an obstetrician who had tried to demedicalise childbirth, was suspended for being "a danger to patients", support from parents helped get her reinstated
1990s
Katherine Ahluwalia gave birth to Grace on April 12 1996
Mobile epidurals were new, and I thought it was definitely worth a try if the pain was too much to cope with. And that's how things turned out. The epidural was great: you weren't completely mobile, because the continuous fetal monitoring meant you were attached to a machine, but I was able to be on all fours at the end of the bed which was better than having to lie on my back. And it took the pain completely away: Ihad quite intense and interesting conversations with the medical staff and with my husband during labour.
The epidural wore off as I got to the pushing stage, so that I could feel all the sensations to push. But despite two hours of it, the baby didn't come. They decided the baby was stuck and that I'd need a caesarean. It wasn't what I'd wanted but I wasn't devastated. It was all dealt with calmly, and because I'd had an epidural, all they had to do was top it up. Everyone was very friendly and reassuring in the operating theatre, and really sensitive to my husband's feelings, too, explaining everything to him just as they were to me. There was an understanding that this was his baby as well as mine, and after Grace was born she was given to him to hold while they were stitching me up.
Water births, pioneered by the obstetrician Michel Odent in France, became widely available in the UK during the 90s, a change supported by the NCT. Changing Childbirth, a government blueprint, seemed to herald a more woman-centred approach to birth.
2000s
Nina Abdali gave birth to Matilda on April 25 2006
As soon as I got pregnant I went on the internet and bought lots of books about what to expect: I was determined to find out as much as possible. What I decided, very early on, was that I wanted to give birth in as low-tech an environment as possible. I was very lucky because I live near Romsey birth centre, which is a midwife-run unit. They offer you more or less the same pain relief options you'd get at home - gas and air, a pool, pethidine - but if you need an epidural or a caesarean, you'd have to transfer to a bigger unit. It's a relaxed environment, where you get to know the staff and feel like a person, not like a number, so I was very keen to have my baby there.
Unfortunately for me, though, midwife shortages meant the centre had to close for deliveries for several months. I was desperately worried about whether it would re-open in time for me, and when it did I was delighted. Matilda's birth was wonderful; I had my partner and my sister with me, and the midwife was really helpful. The birthing room is like an ordinary bedroom- the equipment is all hidden away. I thought I'd like to use the birthing pool but in the event I was too far on to get in. Matilda was born really easily, and I then had four lovely days in Romsey being looked after by midwives and getting the help I needed to breastfeed.
Rising numbers of caesarean sections have caused concern at the NCT over the past few years. The organisation also campaigns for better facilities for parents-to-be in maternity units, with en suite bathrooms, greater privacy and more relaxing birthing rooms. Midwife shortages are another area of concern, so too is the closure of small units like this one.
