Those were the days…..

I remember 1971 after a birth with stitches my doctor brought to my home a very comfy round cushion.
When I had a severe headache he came 3 days in a row.
Times have indeed changed.
I know that we have made progress in treatment but the feeling of care isn't the same. Doctors knew you personally then.

Good point Jaxjacky.
We didn't have the equipment and medical treatments back then that we have now but, equally, we no longer have the staff time available to us. Sometimes there's no substitute for someone to listen to us and take us seriously.

The good old days when we “never had it so good”! Were they really better times or do we remember them with rose tinted glasses because we were young?

Maybe because since 1980 the UK population has increased from 56 million to 67 million without a corresponding increase in support services.

Also , another time when I had post natal depression,another doctor kept me talking in his surgery for nearly an hour and sent his other patients to his partners.

I remember one Saturday afternoon when I was pregnant I began to panic at some odd symptoms. My doctor came round, examined me in the bed room and reassured me all was fine. Now they don't even answer the phone.

My GP dad used to visit his older patients without being called to. He just liked to keep an eye on people who thought might be vulnerable or who he was worried about. He had what he called his 'top ten'.

The thread is not so much about maternity care but how the times have changed so much, imagine calling the local Police station ( there are so few left ) to ask for the patrol to keep an eye on your home.

How many GP’s would do a home visit and sit enjoying a coffee in the sunshine?

When I went to our local nursing home in 1978 for my first antenatal appointment, I was transferred to the hospital as I was an older petite mother (28) with small feet which might indicate a small pelvis. Scans were not routinely done in those days although I was X-rayed at seven months as the obstetrician wrongly thought I was having twins!

I had exactly the same experience as Germanshepherdmum! My daughter weighed 10lbs 1oz and had to be in an incubator for five days. Several friends thought I looked big for the due date but the experts didn't seem to notice.

You are right I am doing something else at the same time! but the point is true for the 70s 80s and 90 s infant mortality and stillbirth has declined steadily. In fact it looks like stillbirth for example remained pretty steady from the 90s to 2005 and then started to decrease.

In 1985 I only had postnatal visits from the midwife. The village GP who did all my antenatal care failed to spot that the size of my pelvis wouldn’t allow a normal delivery, hence a very long and fruitless labour before an emergency caesarean. So I don’t look back fondly on maternity care then.

Galaxy 27 years ago was 1994!

Sago
I'm a similar age to you btw.

I know what you mean. I remember my GP coming to the house when I was home from hospital after both my children were born. It was very reassuring. Throughout both pregnancies I had so many appointments to check on me and the babies. How different it is now as my daughter had only 2 midwife appointments throughout her last pregnancy. I went with her to one of them and the midwife asked a few questions but my daughter said that was only because I was there! I think a shortage of medical staff in all areas leads to many problems.

Yes but your youngest child was born 27 years ago so even if you look at child mortality in the 80s we are doing much better now.

Galaxy I am not talking about 1970, I was born in 1963.

In 1970 the time you were talking about there were 22 child deaths per 1000 births, in 2020 there were 4 per 1000, it might be better to ask what we are doing right.