When my grandmother’s generation found out there would be an
addition to their family, they went into hiding and folks daily searched the
sky for a stork. When the baby arrived the new mother laid up in bed for two
weeks while the husband built a cradle and picked roses for her.
When the women in my generation added a child to the family,
we worked until six weeks before the due date, stayed in the hospital a few
days to recuperate. The husband managed to keep the dishes done (forget
dusting) and brought roses from the hospital gift store.
Then someone coined the word SUPERMOM and a lady went into
labor at her job, stayed in the hospital two days (all the time working on a
project so she wouldn’t be behind schedule at work) and went home to organize a
bake sale, a fund raiser and six parties. When she finished that, she strapped
the baby into one of those harness slings and rode her bicycle three miles to a
computer class. The husband saw the baby when he came home on weekends and he
sent roses from a local flower shop.
Now we’ve got a bunch of new mothers who are high geared
professionals. They can fight a battle over who gets custody of the pit bull in
divorce court when they are dilated to six or perform an intricate brain
surgery on a genius when they are ten minutes away from crowning. They can
hurry to the hospital, bypass the labor room, go straight to the delivery room,
have the baby and be home in four hours. The husband doesn’t have time to brush
his teeth…or even think about roses.
I’m waiting on this new generation. I expect one of two
things to happen. We will either see drive-by delivery windows. The expectant
mother and father can chase in there, deliver the baby, put it in the car seat,
grab a salad at the next drive-by window and rush back to work. I hope the
father doesn’t get nervous and forget that window number one delivers the baby
and number two makes the salads.
Or, birthing rooms will be set up at job sites. The mother
will deliver her baby on her lunch hour and be given five minutes maternity
leave to call the father to let him know she’d be bringing the baby home that
night. If he gets home first, please be sure the formula is made before their
friends arrive for the pool party they’ve planned all week.
Some new law was in effect a few years ago that declared new
mothers would stay in the hospital at least forty eight hours. I didn’t keep up
with it but it would be nice if it passed. A new mother should have at least
that long to recuperate and without a guilt trip…after all it would be against
the law to leave before forty eight hours was up.
Besides it would be a wonderful break for the florist
industry that had given up hope of ever taking roses to a new mother again.
However, I can already hear the insurance companies groaning. Forty eight hours
at a thousand dollars an hour or more adds up pretty quick!
Yep! My granddaddy's oldest sister was back in the cotton fields in a couple of days. Must did stay in bed cause with 16 kids that was the only rest the mother got! My grandmother was one of 16 and her mother was one of 20! No wonder a lot of women died young! People are mostly in better health today and not so many kids to care for! My grandmother had some great stories about growing up in a big family! But now it seems most are back home before you know they are pregnant! And you don't dare ask if you're not sure! People get testy if they just pigged out on good Southern cooking!
ReplyDeleteMy grandma would tell stories of working in the fields, going in to the house, have the baby and a few hours later be back out in the fields ----all at the tender age of 15. Yep I'm from the south. My latest grandbaby was delivered by a midwife in a birthing center and mom and baby went home in 4 hours. It seems the more things change in this world, somehow most things come back to the old days.
ReplyDeleteTimes sure are changing. My oldest daughter is 39 and when I had her our insurance would allow you a week in the hospital so I took the whole week because I knew her dad would be worse than useless and I needed to be rested up.
ReplyDeleteI heard a few days ago that they now want to give women a year off for maternity leave. That would have been nice for some! Thank goodness I was able to be a stay at home mom. I wouldn't give that up for anything. I guess that's why my boys 31 & 24 still live at home. They can't find a woman as good as their mom! Yes they have tried but most girls this day and time have no morals. They just jump in the bed with whoever shows them affection. Lord I guess my boys will have to cross that Alabama line to get a woman as good as their mom! My husband always said the next best thing to come into Georgia form Alabama other than I-20 was me!
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is now 42 and I was in the hospital for 5 days. The babies were more stable at release also.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is now 42 and I was in the hospital for 5 days. The babies were more stable at release also.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is now 42 and I was in the hospital for 5 days. The babies were more stable at release also.
ReplyDeleteNow is crazy life,times are changing :/
ReplyDeleteI was in the hospital for less than two days. The first day being induced then having my son at night, then the next day, we were able to go home after each of our doctors came to see us. My husband was there the whole time....no going home for him.
ReplyDeleteI have two friends who are maternity nurses and they both agree that new mother's don't get enough rest after the baby is born... Never having one myself, I can't attest to this, but I know most mother in Canada are out within 24hrs of giving birth. If you have a C-section then you are in a little longer.
ReplyDeleteI have to say after each of my three babies...I just wanted to be home. I wanted to be the one taking care of my babies. I wanted to chose when they ate and what they wore and who was taking care of them. I am a bit over proctective...ok, maybe more than a bit. But I did not mind a bit being home with them before I had to return to work. I was the type of mom that dropped off her kids if they HAD to be at daycare and picked them up the minute I was out of work. I took my kids food shopping and to the doctors with me, instead pof dropping them at the sitters. I am crazy like that.
ReplyDeleteYou never seem to get a lot of rest in the hospital. I guess going home 24 - 48 hours after giving birth isn't all that bad.
ReplyDeleteI've loved reading through the comments this evening. Isn't it amazing how that history does indeed repeat itself! Thank you to everyone who left a comment and/or joined my list of followers!
ReplyDeleteI think the insurance company must have a man making the decisions as to how long a woman can stay in the hospital after giving birth to a baby. Let one man have a baby, not man that was a woman and still has all his woman part, but a real, honest to God man, and that rule would change in a heart beat! A man would still be in the hospital a month later or even longer! I mean come on look how they act when they get a cold or God forbid the flu.
ReplyDelete