It’s one thing to realize that things have changed a lot in the world of childbearing and raising kids over the past 40 years, and it’s another to see those differences in black and white.
That’s probably why these 1968 hospital instructions to new mothers strike us now as so incredibly odd.
Micala Gabrielle Henson found this pamphlet while she and her mom were doing some cleaning and decided to share it with the world.
“It gave me a chuckle. How things have changed! This is from 1968! How cool! Thank goodness things have changed, I can’t imagine!”
It begins with the times that babies will be on “display,” and asks that you not request to see your baby outside of those times and your scheduled feeding times (we’ll get to that later). Now, new parents are expected to room with their newborns and I have to say, I could have done with a bit more of the nurses taking the overnight shift for me!
That said, it was possible for the nurses to keep babies in the 1960s because they basically cared more about the health of mom’s nipples than the baby’s nourishment.
“During the first twenty-four hours, allow baby to nurse 5 minutes only. On the second and third day, allow baby to nurse for approximately seven minutes. On the fourth and fifth days, allow baby to nurse ten to fifteen minutes.”
Photo Credit: Facebook
I’m not sure if this is per feeding or per day, but either way, both of my kids ate like…every 5 to 15 minutes so this definitely wouldn’t have worked,
“If baby nurses longer it may cause the nipple to become sore.”
Duh, ladies. That’s just how it is, though. At least, that’s how it is now.
My personal favorite part of the post is the foods that new moms should avoid if they’re planning to continue to nurse – chocolate candy, raw apples, cabbage, nuts, strawberries, cherries, onions, or green coconut cake.”
Like…what even do those foods have in common? Anything at all?
And what’s with the green coconut cake? Was regular coconut cake okay?
I just love posts like this and I have to say, I bet hospital stays back then were much more relaxing. Not like now, when I basically felt more tired than ever the day we left to come home with a kid we had no idea how to care for.
Then again, I could eat raw apples and whatever sort of coconut cake I wanted. So, there’s that.