I think I won’t write any more, or you will be thinking I am rather a depressing character, but I shall be glad if anything I have said is any use to others as a benefit in future time.
Wages 20s. to 45s.; five children.
29. “I am Nearly Used Up.”
Through my married life I have had a good, kind partner, which means so much to the wife, and who always provided me with a doctor and a good nurse for my confinements, which goes without saying that the mother and child have a much better chance than other neglected ones. The first five were born with fifteen months between; then there was a wait of eight years for the sixth, and three years for the seventh. I have always worked hard both before and after childbirth. Give a woman a quiet home and an easy conscience and good plain food, and I see no reason why both mother and child should not do well. Personally, I don’t know what I should have done if it had not been for my good old nurse, my dear mother having passed away some years before; but by the grace of God and plenty of common sense, I have brought all my children through so far. I was married in 1884, and knew practically nothing about a child’s entry into the world. I do think there should be somewhere where intending brides could get information that would in some way prepare them for what may take place—those who have no mothers, I mean. But so much depends on the woman herself, whether she is going to make the best of things. Personally, I found it was no good worrying, although I found it much harder than most. I never knew what it was to have a day at the seaside for twenty years. I am not grumbling, only now I am nearly used up. If only the Maternity Benefit had been given when I and many others needed it, I cannot help thinking I could have done much better. My husband is a bricklayer, and you may guess it was a bit of a struggle with my little family.
Seven children.
ELEVEN CHILDREN BORN, ALL LIVING. FATHER A FISH-HAWKER.
This family is not connected with the Women’s Co-operative Guild.
(Reproduced by kind permission of the Medical Officer of Health for Liverpool.)