A day in the Maternity Ward in 1936
Author: Edith Eriksen
In this excerpt, Edith describes the daily schedule at Royal Women’s Hospital in Sydney (Paddington) when her daughter Marie was born.
Sydney, 28 October 1936
We start early at 4.30, we are woken up, washed and treated individually according to need, the beds are made, morning tea is served and from 5.30 to 6 it is baby time, then all the babies are with their mothers. From 6 to 8, often from 6.30 - 8 (when the morning program is late) there is free time, but we all oversleep it, no one can keep awake. Breakfast is at 8, baby at 8.30 until 9. Doctors and nurses come to inspect between 9 and 11, and tea is again at 11.30. Then babies again at 11.30, lunch at 12. Between 12 and 2 we wash again, from 2 - 3 it's visiting time, the second half of this time is also baby time, which I really dislike because you don't have any peace and quiet. After 3 it's time for treatment again and just between 4 and 5 I write to you. At 5 there is another meal, which is called "tea" here but is actually dinner, with cold meat, salad, bread, butter, tea, goods and sweet dishes. At 5.30 babies. Then, from 6 to 7, everyone paints and powders themselves and makes themselves nice for the visiting hours 7 to 8. Then everything is made ready for the night, around 8.45/ 9 the babies come again, and then, around 10 the lights are turned off. If you consider that the laxatives have a powerful effect every now and then and are quite tiring, the day is very full, you would like to sleep through every free minute, I'm definitely not in the mood for reading.
