This is the shortest interview in the collection. Like many others, it cuts off abruptly, but I’m not sure why, in this case. There may be more detail on the hard copy transcript in the University Archives. And, of course, I can listen to the tape again. But that’s another task for another to do list.

For many of the women, discussing pregnancy and birth was taboo. What strikes me about this story is how far that taboo extended for Mrs P’s mother-in-law. The mother-to-be had understood there would be pain involved, but no one ever explained to her what active labour would feel like. Her mother-in-law, who was present, didn’t tell her what was happening to her even after it had begun. It also looks as though we never got Mrs P’s age, so it’s hard to know if this was normal for the decade she was having her babies in, or if it was just unique to her family.

There are a lot of (unclear) comments in this story. When we found ourselves writing this far too many times in a transcript, we knew it was time to spring for a directional microphone. That device made an enormous difference to the sound quality.

Maryanne interviewed Mrs P in October 1997.

 

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MARYANNE: Were you looked after by anybody during your pregnancy?

MRS P: Mm-hmm. There was a doctor that came to the home and of course my mother came.

MARYANNE: Did she live far away?

MRS P: She lived a couple of miles away.

MARYANNE: How did you feel during your pregnancy?

MRS P: Well, I had to throw up half the time, in the morning especially. It wasn’t that bad, my husband did a lot, like made the bread and that because I couldn’t do that. We had no other little kids, it wasn’t that bad. And then it came a whole month before we thought it would. We had everything ready and everyone ready. It just happened so fast. My mother-in-law was there in the daytime and she didn’t even tell me, I wasn’t well then either. She didn’t even tell me what was wrong. I didn’t know about having a baby, I never had one before. So she went back home and I couldn’t go to bed. I just walked the floor and my husband didn’t go to bed either so finally he went to the neighbours and the neighbour went and got my mom and she wasn’t there very long and I had that kid. (laughs)

Many women referred to the beginning of labour as “taking sick.” They would say, “when I took sick…” Here, when she says, “I wasn’t well then, either,” Mrs P means that, even though her mother-in-law was present after labour had begun, she did not tell her daughter-in-law what was happening to her.

MARYANNE: So she was a midwife. Referring to Mrs P’s mother.

MRS P: She did that for others too.

MARYANNE: She did it for others? Was she trained or she learned from experience?

MRS P: No, I think she just learned.

MARYANNE: Was she born in Canada?

MRS P: No, she was born in the States.

MARYANNE: Do you remember how you felt about having a baby, were you scared about it?

MRS P: Not really, I thought it would just come and that was it. No, I wasn’t really scared.

MARYANNE: Did the labour surprise you, did it catch you by surprise the pain that was involved?

MRS P: That I knew before because I had older sisters. No, I really didn’t think it would be like that and maybe didn’t think at all, but I was very lucky because there were not complications of birth. It was spring and not winter and there was no phone.

MARYANNE: And what were the roads like, would they be bad in the spring?

MRS P: Yeah, but well we could go in the car anytime.

MARYANNE: How far was it to Choiceland?

MRS P: (unclear)

MARYANNE: So there would have been a doctor there. Had you ever thought that you would want to call the doctor?

MRS P: No, I just forgot that … I was so stupid, and then of course I thought it was bad, it could have been worse, I guess.

She’s judging herself harshly. She wasn’t stupid, of course. She was simply inexperienced and uninformed.

MARYANNE: Can you tell me what was your lifestyle then, you were farming?

MRS P: Mm-hmm.

MARYANNE: Were you rich or…?

MRS P: Oh no, we were all poor at that time.

MARYANNE: Because that was depression days, some people were doing okay and some were struggling?

MRS P: We were all on the homestead there and we were all in the same boat.

MARYANNE: So your mother-in-law came, was it near the end when she came?

MRS P: Yeah, I think she was there a few hours and it was over.

MARYANNE: So when you actually had the baby did you lie down on the bed?

MRS P: I was laying in the bed, and after I had the baby I was sick (unclear).

MARYANNE: What kind of things did they put on the bed to cover the bed up?

MRS P: Well, my mother-in-law had quite a few wide (unclear, sounds like “tube”) sheets. She knew what, I didn’t know. When my water broke I had to change everything. With the other two I knew then. I don’t know why they don’t tell a person.

MARYANNE: Did your mother ever tell you?

MRS P: Mm-mm. Oh no. She didn’t tell me those things.

MARYANNE: We find that very common that mothers didn’t tell their daughters about childbirth.