Mother and baby: then and now

In 2006, Mother & Baby celebrated it’s 50th birthday. We take a step back in time to the days of terry towelling nappies and knitting patterns, and a time when all your problems were answered by Matron

Can you imagine life without disposable nappies? What about going a day without your steam steriliser or your electric breast pump? Could you have got through your little one cutting his first tooth without the help of some Calpol?

Mums today have a huge array of products at their disposal – all designed to make life that little bit easier. In fact, there are so many products it can be hard to know where to start sometimes!

Mums in the 1950s on the other hand were lucky if they got a new pram for their baby. And, there were no such things as pull-up nappies, bottle warmers or Teletubbies DVDs to entertain their tot when they needed five minutes peace – some didn’t even have a fridge let alone a TV.

The way we care for our babies has certainly moved on, and it can be easy to dismiss your nan’s ‘when I was a girl’ advice as superstitious old wives’ tales. But mums in the 50s had more in common with us than you might think. Looking at the first ever copy of Mother & Baby, produced in 1956, it’s amazing how similar the mums’ worries were to ours today, and how many of the readers’ questions could have been sent to our very own Dear Linda.

Okay, so we printed knitting patterns and recipes, we featured advice from Matron, and published short stories… but we also talked about coping with pregnancy (or being an ‘expectant mother’ as it was called then!), how to look after your baby, getting your toddler to eat her greens and dealing with tantrums. Sound familiar?

Some things never change

The first issue of M&B launched in January 1956 – black and white, half the size of today’s magazine and littered with articles by ‘a woman doctor’ or ‘a Chaplain’. But it was still full to bursting with hints and tips for mums-to-be and new mums.

In 50 years, has our mission really changed? Back then, M&B’s first editor wanted the magazine to ‘anticipate – and solve – your day-to-day problems; bring you news and views from other mothers, cover every aspect of motherhood and baby welfare, and to help you become the perfect mother of the perfect baby.’

Okay, so we all know that perfection is a bit much to expect, and most of us would settle for a happy, healthy baby and a decent night’s sleep – but apart from that, our aims at M&B are pretty much the same.

Mother knows best

Whether you’re having trouble breastfeeding, you have a newborn with nappy rash, a baby who’s teething or a toddler having a tantrum, you’re not alone – it seems a mum’s biggest concerns haven’t changed much in 50 years. Matron still received letters about jealous older siblings, potty training, how much sleep a baby needs and pesky pregnancy symptoms. Her advice was a bit out of date though!

One mum-to-be, too embarrassed to mention it to her doctor, asked matron what she could do about constipation in pregnancy. Matron’s response? ‘Get rid of that reluctance to talk to your doctor. Remember we are not women, as such, to doctors we are impersonal cases. Think of him as a doctor and not as a man.’

Then and now

Even the topics of some of our features haven’t changed much. This month our Welcome to the land of make believe feature explores the world of your toddler’s imagination. And in June 1956 we tackled the same topic, encouraging mums to nurture their little one’s fertile imagination.

‘Go ahead and let him believe there’s a fairy sitting on the window sill, and never be angry when he talks about them – after all, you ask him to believe in Father Christmas for as long as possible don’t you?’

Nothing changes

Mrs Margaret Oliver, one of M&B’s first diarists, had the same fears as mums-to-be in 2006 as she described her final preparations in the lead up to her big day. ‘As the waiting days dwindle to single figures my feeling of impatience grows.

There’s nothing to be done but watch B-day arrive with exasperating slowness. My series of ante-natal classes is now complete – the doctor’s parting words caused a smile: “Don’t think that having a baby is a ladylike affair. The more puffing and blowing and hard work you do, the quicker it will all be over.”’

They did what?!

Bringing up a baby in the 50s may have had many similarities to being a mum in 2006, but there were a few things that we wouldn’t dream of doing now. Take one concerned mum, who was told her baby was being ‘overfed’ and advised to wean him on cows milk, plus cereal once a day, and orange juice every morning – at just three months!

And that’s not all. Mums were told it wasn’t too soon to begin weaning when their baby was just two and a half months old*. It was perfectly okay to give your baby a little raw egg yolk in his bottle, but all fruits, except very ripe bananas, were to be avoided.

*The World Health Organisation recommends that you don’t start weaning your baby until he is six months old.

Am I, aren’t I?

No mum ever forgets the first time she saw that all-important blue line but back in 1956, DIY pregnancy tests were the realm of science fiction. In her feature Baby on the Way, Mrs Martha Howell advised new mums that the best way to tell if they had ‘a stranger within’ was to wait and see if one missed period turned into two.

For those mums who desperately needed to know sooner, Martha advised a trip to the doctor but warned, ‘a very good reason indeed must be given for desiring such an early confirmation of pregnancy!’

And if you were pregnant you had your confinement to look forward to – new mums were kept in hospital for up to two weeks after the birth!

Hush little baby…

As any mum will tell you, new babies cry. A lot. And we’ve all tried everything from a feed and nappy change to turning on the Hoover or driving our newborn around in the car to calm him down. Not so in 1956.

In Keeping Baby Quiet we proclaimed that ‘cunning, hypocrisy, deceitfulness and underhand methods, in that or any order’ were the best way to keep your baby quiet! And what if these methods failed?

Mums (or in fact dads, this being regarded as a father’s job) were advised to resort to the time-honoured method of acrobatics to quieten their babies! ‘Make sure baby has a clear view,’ we advised.

‘Strip down to your shorts and singlet, and try out a few hand springs and somersaults. Try standing on your head – your baby will probably shriek with laughter. If you fall over so much the better, babies like plenty of excitement with their acrobatics’.

One of Those Days

Mums all over the country love catching up with our Mum’s Life diarists every month. Reading Susan James’ diary from 1956 is just as gripping – here’s a taster of the life of a 50s mum; we guarantee you’ll be hooked!

6.00am Pretend not to hear baby’s hopeful whimpers from the nursery. Attempt further sleep.

6.30am Gurgles now bellowing roars. Abandon pretence and stagger into nursery. Instantly greeted by a smile from seven-month-old daughter.

7.00am Descend stairs with armful of washing. Put nappies on to boil. Shrieks heard from upstairs – ascend hastily and administer milk. Curious sounds from kitchen.

Suspect that nappies are boiling over.

7.15am Confirm suspicions. Mop up stove, floor etc.

8.00am Bring baby to sitting room and prop on sofa. Baby instantly collapses on face. Wedge her firmly with cushions and tear into kitchen to make breakfast, put milk on to boil. Wails of distress from sitting room; fly to rescue baby from extreme edge of sofa.

8.05am  Milk, on being abandoned, boils over. Mop up stove, floor etc.

8.10am  Breakfast proceeds stickily with pauses to mop baby’s mouth, hands, legs, own legs, sofa and large surrounding area of floor.

8.30am Laboriously clean baby then insert into pram, tuck up, and put in garden. Prepare to clean house.

8.31am Glance at baby, now totally uncovered. Re-tuck baby. Start to dust. Doorbell rings – receive handful of bills from postman. Kind neighbour shouts over fence, ‘Did I know baby hasn’t a shred of bedclothes on her?’. Re-tuck baby.

10.30am Baby finally asleep. Start cleaning furiously.

11.30am Baby wakes, and howls. Prop baby up and supply toys. Back to cleaning. All going well when unexpected downpour begins. Rush frantically to clothes line and tear down nappies. Enter sitting room to find baby in act of digesting morning’s post.

12.45pm Get dinner ready. Politely request baby to stop her impatient whimpering for a moment and suggest she adopt a more cheerful attitude. Step back quickly and fall over washing. Baby gurgles with delight.

1.10pm Dinner eaten. Most of first course on my clean dress. Second course mostly on wall thanks to baby’s well-aimed kick. Put baby down to sleep and promise myself a Nice Sit Down after dealing with extensive ravages of dinner.

2.30pm About to start Nice Sit Down when daughter announces presence at top of voice. Abandon all hope of sitting down and trudge upstairs to face the afternoon.

Tipping the scales

There are many life-savers new mums couldn’t live without – we get inundated with products mums love for She’s Gotta Have It every month. So, how about your baby scales?

No, we didn’t think so. But in 1956 a baby scale was considered an essential item that new mums couldn’t, and shouldn’t live without. Why? According to M&B, ‘only by checking weight before and after feeding can you be sure your baby is getting the right amount of nourishment.

It’s the only reliable indication of your baby’s health during those first vital weeks.’ And the best bit? They cost just 50 shillings to hire for five months and could also be household scales, so you could weigh out your cooking ingredients as well!

A step back in time

• 1956 – M&B is born and runs its first ever Great Expectations feature – it’s still running today! The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) is also formed.

• 1961 – One of the first versions of the contraceptive pill was introduced in Britain, but doctors could only prescribe it to married women. The controversial drug Thalidomide was also banned in the UK.

• 1964 – The average age of mums was 27 and only 7.2% of births occurred outside marriage.

• 1965 – The first Maclaren Umbrella-fold pushchair went on sale.

• 1968 – We run our first article on sex after birth – the height of controversy!

• 1970 – The Peel Report declares that hospital births are safer than home births.

• 1971 – M&B grows to A4 size and goes up in price to a whopping three shillings (15p!).

• 1972 – Our ever popular ‘Find a friend’ section is launched.

• 1975 – Birth in pictures makes its first appearance. Maternity leave was officially introduced for mums.

• 1977 – The average age of a mum in the UK drops to 26 but the number of babies born outside of marriage goes up to nearly 10%.

• 1978 –Claire Rayner is an M&B expert. Louise Joy Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, was born.

• 1981 – M&B offers readers its first ever cover gift – a sachet of Robinson’s cereal.

• 1982 – M&B goes up in price to 60p and the most famous mum of the year, Princess Diana, gives birth to Price William.

• 1983 – Dentinox runs its first cover star competition.

• 1985 – M&B joins Princess Di in backing the rubella vaccination awareness campaign.

• 1987 – The MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine was first introduced in the UK.

• 1992 – M&B publishes its last knitting pattern.

• 1993 – Dr Hilary Jones joins the M&B team as our expert GP and we launch the Mother & Baby Awards.

• 1997 – We ran our first car seat safety campaign.

• 1999 – Showbiz royalty Posh and Becks have their first baby, Brooklyn Beckham.

• 2002 – The average UK family now has 1.64 children. Paternity leave was introduced.

• 2003 - The average age of mums has shot up to 29 and 41% of babies are now born outside of wedlock.

• 2005 – The world’s oldest mum, 66-year-old Adriana Iliescu, gives birth to a baby girl. The M&B website is born.

Mum’s essential then and now

Essentials then…

Knitting needles and wool
Sewing machine
Baby shawl and blanket
Savlon and Dettol
Teething powder
Formula milk
Sterilising tablets
Terry towelling nappies and dry liners
Support tights
Baby bouncer

Essentials now…

Disposable nappies
Baby monitor
Breast pump
Travel system
Car seat
Baby sleeping bag
Wipes
Steriliser
Bottles
Nursing bra
Calpol
Sling

What’s in a name?

Most popular boys’ names – 1950s

1. David
2. John
3. Peter
4. Michael
5. Alan
6. Robert
7. Stephen
8. Paul
9. Brian
10. Graham

Most popular boys’ names – 2004

1. Jack
2. Joshua
3. Thomas
4. James
5. Daniel
6. Samuel
7. Oliver
8. William
9. Benjamin
10. Joseph

Most popular girls’ names – 1950s

1. Susan
2. Linda
3. Christine
4. Margaret
5. Carol
6. Jennifer
7. Janet
8. Patricia
9. Barbara
10. Ann

Most popular girls’ names – 2004

1. Emily
2. Ellie
3. Jessica
4. Sophie
5. Chloe
6. Lucy
7. Olivia
8. Charlotte
9. Katie
10. Megan