Four Births – Four Stories - Birth #1

Each of my four births was very different. Jana was the first born and was born to a very ignorant and frightened young woman. My mother had not been any help. She had me and it was a difficult birth and she had a still born boy. The babies’ father, Leon, was also as ignorant of the birthing process and neither of us knew what to expect. Jana was born in 1948, shortly after the war was over and during the baby boom when women were being patriotic by answering the national call to get pregnant and replace the men lost in the war. There were so many pregnant women that a new business in maternity clothes became popular. Everywhere, there were pregnant women, walking, on buses, in the subway and shopping for maternity clothes. A women’s circle was formed as they asked one another, “How are you feeling? Where will you have the baby? How far along are you”? There were so many children being born that hospitals were overrun by mothers delivering babies.
“I don’t know. It seems like a very long time.” I said to Leon. I had been having contractions since the night before and we had called the doctor a couple of times. The pain with each contraction was strong but bearable. We were living with my parents in Brooklyn and I was going to have the baby at Brooklyn Memorial Hospital.
“No, don’t come in yet” the doctor said. “This is your first baby and sometimes it takes a long time. Just call if anything else happens.” What does “anything else” mean, I wondered. More contractions but they didn’t seem to get closer or hurt more.
“I guess nothing else is happening” I thought.
I couldn’t sleep and at about 4:00am I felt something and sat up to find the bed wet. Uh, oh, my water broke. I had been told that if that happened it meant the baby would be born soon. “I guess that’s “anything else” I thought. I woke Leon and called the doctor again. This time he said to come right in. Leon called for a cab. “Hurry, she’s having a baby” he said to the driver. When we got to the hospital, I was taken to a basement, prenatal unit and Leon was told to stay in the waiting room. No one but the mother was to go with the staff.
I was shaved, cleaned up and put into a bed in a room with four other beds. There was someone in the next room who was screaming in pain and it really frightened me. I was the only one in this room. A nurse came in with a clipboard and took my history. “How many births have you had? Have you had any miscarriages? Abortions”? She asked.
“Why is that woman screaming” I asked the nurse?
“The doctors are waiting until the baby is right to see if it will be a regular birth or whether she’s going to have a Cesarean Section” the nurse answered. “Give me your glasses” the nurse said.
“No, I don’t want to. I won’t see anything if I do.” I was very near sighted and when my glasses were off I always felt disoriented.
“You have to give them to me. It is the rule. You might break them.” she said. She examined me and said I wasn’t dilated enough and pulled up the crib sides of the bed. She went out of the room.
When she left I could hardly get my bearings. The room was very dark, the only light came from a window high up on one wall. It was still dark outside. The woman screamed again. I thought, “No matter what I feel it could never be as bad as she is feeling now. I won’t scream or make noise.” I thought.
All alone, without my glasses in this dark I felt like I was floating in murky water. Hours seemed to go by. I slept on and off. A new person came in with a clipboard and took my history. “How many births have you had? Have you had any miscarriages? Abortions”? He asked. I answered like in a dream. He examined me and said I wasn’t dilated enough.
I had to make a bowel movement but knew I wasn’t supposed to get out of bed. I rang for the nurse and a bed pan was brought in and left with me. I tried to use the bed pan and I pushed hard but nothing happened. I kept the bed pan under me and again slept on and off but the need to make a bowel movement was stronger. Suddenly there were several people in the room. I really woke up now. I heard them talking. “The head is showing! She almost had it in the bed pan! Who brought it in?” Someone said. I was being lifted and put on another, higher bed with wheels. A mask was clamped on my face and someone said “Breath in. It is ether. You’ll be asleep in a few minutes.” I could feel myself being rushed down the hall, which was brightly lit. The last thing I remembered hearing was someone saying in a long drawn out voice, “See if she has false teeth.” and I laughed.
I did not know anything about the birthing. I slept right through the whole thing. When I woke up I was told that I had a baby girl who was in the nursery but there was no room for me in the hospital. I was kept in the corridor over night and so were many other women. The babies were brought to the mother’s bed every 4 hours, to nurse. It was the custom for a mother and baby to stay in the hospital for a week after the birth and the baby would have to stay longer if it weighed les than 5lbs. Visiting hours were very restricted and only the father and immediate family could visit for a very short time.
Finally I got into a real room with three other beds with mothers in them. The big nurse walked in with a load of bed pans. She passed them out and told us we were not allowed out of bed and if we had to go we had to use the bed pan in the bed. She stood at the door and said,” My name is Mrs. Wilson and I’ll be your nurse today. Now make Niagara Falls, girls. I’ll be back in a little while to collect the bed pans. Remember if you don’t make peepee. I will have to catheterize you”. What does that mean, I wondered, but it didn’t sound good.
We named the baby, Jana, after my grandfather, Jacob, and she weighed 5lbs and 4 oz when she was born. The nurses told me how much she weighed every time they came into the room. Each day she weighed a little less. I didn’t want her to stay in the hospital after I was dismissed and the hospital administration didn’t want her to stay in the hospital after I was dismissed. There was no room for her.
The last day came. I could go home and Leon came to the hospital to get me. Mrs. Wilson, the big nurse came in, “I’m going to check the babies weight right now. Here’s your suitcase, get ready to go home.” She said as she hurried out of the room. When she came back, she said, “She weighs just 5lbs. Here, I’ll help you. You don’t want her to loose any more weight or you won’t be able to take her”. We called a taxi and headed home to my parent’s place.