Grandma Story

Grandma has told me several times about giving birth to my Mom at home. Not her own home but her in-laws home. She said that home births were a choice in 1950 because hospital births were common. If families chose a home birth they were given instructions to prepare the house in advance and nurses would inspect it prior to the estimated due date. To prepare they needed to empty the birthing room of everything except for the bed and a wooden table that could be scrubbed. I asked Grandma if labouring women were given any pain medication back then and she said that she was given something and it made her feel drunk, except she had never drank before. She pictured the feeling as the same feeling that he father-in-law must have been feeling when he drank, and "she'd seen him drunk a couple of times". In fact, she told him she was drunk like he is sometimes. Funny.

Grandma tells the story of Mom's birth with much fondness, she says it was the best birth experience of the 4 times she went through it. She really loved being at home and having family nearby immediately after her daughter arrived. I have a hard time imagining the time, what was it like? What was medicine like? What was Grandma like at that age? All I know is that she was a brave one and a tough cookie.