Wages 30s.; one child.
79. Frequent Pregnancies.
During pregnancy I was fairly well in health, but during my confinements I was very ill. I never had a natural birth.... I think what caused my miscarriages was with having children so quickly, and having to work rather hard at the same time.
Wife’s allowance 24s.; five children and three miscarriages.
80. Husband on Short Time.
During pregnancy with my first child, after about three months, I started with inflammation of the bladder. I happened to be with my mother at the time, but had it been otherwise I could not have got anyone to look after me, as my husband was only working two and three days a week. Of course, my friends would have looked after me, but everyone is not so fortunate as that. I would have freely died, the pain was so severe. And whatever maternity benefit a wife and mother receives, she gets nothing more than she deserves, and I believe they will get the money as easy as they get the old age pensions, and they will have less to waste.
Wages 17s. 6d. to £2; three children.
81. Convulsions.
I very nearly lost my life over my first confinement, through being ignorant of how to take care of myself beforehand. I had lived about eighty miles away from home for some years, and was away from my mother at the time, also too shy and reticent to ever mention my condition to neighbours. I had always been strong and healthy, and never took medicine or aperients in any shape or form, in fact, never thought about it, and acted just the same when pregnant, although dreadfully constipated all the time. I thought it was a result of my condition. At confinement, after twenty-four hours’ pain and suffering I was seized with convulsions just as the baby was at the point of being born, and knew no more for about twelve hours. Another doctor was fetched, and the child was got away somehow, also my friends telegraphed for, as they expected me to die. However, that did not happen. But the doctors said it was the only case of convulsions at confinement that they had ever heard of the patient living after, and they blamed it to the clogged condition of the bowels. I was quite normal over the second confinement. There may perhaps not be much in this, except, perhaps, if I had known a bit more about such things, it would have been a lot better for me. My girl is nineteen now.
It seems almost incredible that I was so ignorant, but I had lived quietly a long time with a strictly particular widow lady, and had hardly ever heard such things discussed.