Maternity in Wellington 1950

LEAVING YOUR DIGNITY AT THE DOOR: MATERNITY IN WELLINGTON 1950 - 1970 by Jane Ellen Esther Stojanovic A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Applied) in Midwifery Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand 2002 ABSTRACT This thesis describes the maternity system in Wellington between 1950 and 1970 particularly from the perspectives of consumers and midwives. Four women consumers who experienced maternity in Wellington and two midwives who worked in Wellington’s maternity hospitals during this period provided their oral testimonies as the main primary sources for this study. The author’s recollections of being a student nurse and a consumer in Wellington and other primary and secondary sources are used to substantiate, explore and explain the topic. The study traces the sociopolitical changes in New Zealand maternity from 1900 to 1970 creating a backdrop against which Wellington’s maternity system, including the women, the hospitals, the workforce, maternity practices and the childbearing process are illuminated using the insights of women and midwives who experienced them. “That’s what this lady who had had her baby, said to me, she said, You lose your dignity when you have your baby”, was a comment from one of the interviewed women. This took me back to student days when a common saying was ‘You leave your dignity at the door when you go in to have a baby’. These comments suggested the title for this thesis. The oral testimonies of the six participants described positive and negative aspects of their maternity experiences, but the three strong themes that arose from their accounts included ‘being alone’, ‘lack of autonomy’ and ‘uncaring attitudes’. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Pamela Wood, the academic staff and the administrative staff at Victoria University for their support and assistance in the development and preparation of this thesis. Special thanks also to Alison Dixon, Maralyn Foureur, Joy Bickley and Joan Skinner for their encouragement and support over the years, particularly during the ‘rocky’ times. Thanks are also due to the Wellington Hospital Nursing Directorate at Capital Coast Health for allowing me to use the photograph from the Wellington Hospital Nursing Archive. Very special thanks are due to the six women, consumers and midwives, who shared their memories so freely and were proud to claim them, Ruth Belton, Kathleen Brosnahan, Helen van Kampen, Ivanka Marta, Noeline Ruston and Mabs Le Page. Thanks are also due to Elizabeth Jull, Jan Warren, Gloria Johnstone, Wendy Batterbee and my midwifery colleagues at Massey University for their support, listening skills and help with finding literary treasures. Particular thanks are also due to my daughters, Katarina for her skills in transcribing, Ana and my mother, Joyce, for listening to me. Thanks also to all the other members of the whanau who coped with me and ‘my thesis’. My late husband, Dragan Stojanovic deserves my most heartfelt acknowledgement for his unstinting support and faith in my ability, and for his belief in the ongoing benefits of education. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................iii List of figures ......................................................................................................................... v Glossary................................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2. Twentieth Century Maternity in New Zealand ................................................. 26 Chapter 3. Women of Wellington ....................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4. Wellington Maternity; Bricks, Mortar and the Workforce............................... 89 Chapter 5. The Childbearing Process................................................................................ 111 Chapter 6. Discussion ........................................................................................................ 156 Appendices......................................................................................................................... 167 References............................................................................................................................. iv iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. ‘Of such is the kingdom of heaven’ 1960s photograph. ………………61 Otaki Birthing Centre Ltd. Figure 2. The Willis Street Obstetric Hospital. 1949 ………………………..93 Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, N.Z. Evening Post Collection, No. 90567 1/2. Figure 3. Postnatal room St Helens Hospital. ……………………………….....100 L. Barber and R. Towers, Wellington Hospital 1847 - 1976. Figure 4. Photograph of Wellington Hospital, …………………………………103 Author’s Collection. Figure 5. Birthing woman in lithotomy position. (St Helens Hospital 1969)…...139 Wellington Hospital Archive. Capital Coast District health Board. Figure 6. ‘The four-hourly clock’ F. Truby King, Feeding and Care of Baby, 1940. ………….….……..155 v GLOSSARY Ambulation To walk about Anaesthesia The removal of pain. Analgesia The reduction of pain. Asepsis Without infection Cervical To do with the cervix which is the opening of the uterus, (also known as the neck of the womb). Diaper A folded cloth napkin. Dilation The opening or stretching open of tissue. In labour, the cervix is dilated by the baby’s head. Epidural A form of regional anaesthesia used in childbirth which involves the Anaesthesia injection of local anaesthetic into the lower portion of the spinal canal. Episiotomy The cutting of the perineum to assist the birth of the baby’s head. Induction To bring about – usually in respect of labour. E.g to induce labour is to cause contractions of the uterus so the woman goes into labour. Inhalational (A`djective) inhaled or breathed in as in gas or vapour. Lithotomy A position used for birth where the woman lies on her back with her legs lifted into stirrups. (Figure 5.) Perineal (Adjective), derived from perineum, e.g perineal toilet, perineal muscles, perineal sutures. Perineum The anatomical name of the area of muscle and tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus. Retroversion Turning or leaning backwards as used e.g. retroversion of the uterus where the uterus tips backwards instead of leaning forward as normal. Stirrups Poles attached to the bed to hold the woman’s feet above the bed. Suppository Medication given in the form of a pellet into the rectum. Usually, but not always, given to stimulate bowel action. Ultrasound Technology using sound vibrations too rapid to be audible which is used to visualise the baby in the uterus during pregnancy, and to listen to, and to graph the fetal heartbeat. vi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION When I was a child, as children do, I enjoyed listening to my mother tell stories of my birth and babyhood. It was a way of validating who I am and made me feel secure and wanted. We laughed at my father’s anxious behaviour and I was always pleased that I was a breastfed baby and that my mother had none of the problems caring for me, a second child, that she had caring for my older brother. My mother always attributed this to the care she had received in the homelike environment of a small private maternity home in Johnsonville, Wellington. I was born in 1945 in a small four-bed private maternity home, ‘Ranui’, in Fraser Avenue. The house is still there although now it is a private dwelling. Prior to the 1950s small, private maternity homes were common, many having just one maternity bed so that they could avoid the regulation from the Health Department that came with having more than one inpatient.1 In Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, as in most urban areas, there were also larger private maternity hospitals including charitable institutions,2 epitomized in Wellington by Bethany and Alexandra hospitals. There were several private maternity hospitals in upper Willis St., one of the main city streets, including Harris Hospital and the Willis St. Obstetric Hospital. There was also the state owned St. Helens Hospital and Training School for Midwives in Newtown, an old inner city area. Wellington Public Hospital catered only for abnormal maternity cases such as women with breast abscesses, or other medical and obstetric complications, until 1947, when the Wellington Maternity Annexe was opened.3 1 P. Mein Smith, Maternity in Dispute: New Zealand, 1920-39, Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1986, p. 1. 2 J. Neill, Grace Neill, The Story of a Noble Woman, N.M. Peryer Ltd., Christchurch, 1961, p. 50. 3 L. Barber & R. Towers, Wellington Hospital 1847 – 1976, Wellington Hospital Board, Wellington, 1976, App. 8. 7 When I reached adulthood and bore my children in the mid 1960s and early 1970s there were limited choices of where to have a baby. Homebirth was not available and it appeared that most of the small private maternity homes had disappeared. Later, as a trained midwife I realized that many of my colleagues were unaware that these facilities had existed at all, yet they had been

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