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A RECENT ARTICLE on childbirth reminded me of the birth of my first child in the Rotunda hospital fifty years ago.
I selected the Rotunda because it was rumoured at the time, that if the pregnancy went wrong and it came down to a choice – they would prioritise saving the life of the mother.
It was believed that other Catholic maternity hospitals would do the opposite.
On your first antenatal visit, you were sent to the dental clinic which was next to the antenatal ward. If any of your teeth looked like they needed a filling or any sort of treatment, the dentist insisted on pulling them out – so I lost two teeth on that first birth.
Since scans didn’t exist, a deep and painful internal exam was performed on every visit.
All the mothers were terrified of the doctors and matron so we never asked any questions.
As soon as my labour started I went to the hospital. My husband was told to go home as there were no visitors allowed in until after the baby was born.
I was given an enema and after that, I was put on a bed and pushed down a long corridor. The walls were lined with green marble cubicles which had no doors and there was a high bed in each cubicle. I was put on that high bed and there I lay for twenty-four hours, in pain.
The only distraction was to read messages scrawled on the walls of the cubicle, by former patients. The messages were mostly complaints about men being responsible for the pain they were feeling and how ‘it was well for them to not be able to have babies’.
Nurses looked in now and again and did internal exams but rarely spoke.
Eventually, after many hours the matron appeared and my legs were hoisted up over my head and strapped either side of the bed onto two metal bars.
Then the Doctor entered with a scissors and cut my vaginal opening. Throughout all that time I was never offered any pain treatment but soon after my legs were unstrapped I was given a gas mask.
Fifty years later I can still remember the horrible taste and the feeling of hovering somewhere above the bed.
My baby was born healthy and I was given four catgut stitches.
Shortly after we were both brought to the postnatal ward. Where I was offered tea, toast and a light for my cigarette.
Was I traumatised? I don’t know, back then you just had to get on with it.
Visiting time was very strictly enforced. Parents and friends could visit at 2 p.m. and evening times were for the fathers.
But having waited in Colon’s pub across the road, many of the new dads would arrive at the hospital drunk and so there were always one or two rows in the ward – culminating in the offending father being ordered out by the staff.
Like every other mother back then, I was kept in for two weeks. During that time we were taught how to bathe our babies and how to breastfeed properly.
Whether we needed it or not we had to drink a large disgusting glass of some tarry concoction to move our bowels. And later on, we all had to lie on our bed and carry out exercises to strengthen our internal organs.
After five days the catgut stitches were removed, again without any painkiller. These stitches were so strong that often more damage was done taking them out than inserting them.
But salt baths, we were told, cured everything.
Cleanliness was held in very high regard and everyone had to stay in bed until the ward was cleaned and inspected by the matron – but since everyone was allowed to smoke, including the visitors, the cleaners could never get rid of the smell.
Lung cancer is very prevalent in Ireland and you have to wonder if all the passive smoking by the nation’s babies in the maternity hospital’s played a part in that?
But of course, back then we didn’t know the dangers.
Each maternity hospital had its own rules, so us Rotunda mothers felt seriously deprived when we learned that the Coombe allowed all the new mothers to have a night out before they were discharged.
The nurses took care of the babies.
There have been many changes to maternity care since I had my first child.
These days women have more choices and can choose the type of birth, home births, water births and so on. Those who can afford private care can even choose their own doctors and team.
Nowadays mothers are encouraged to walk around during labour while we were made to lie on our backs and not move.
Other massive improvements are epidurals and painkillers, being allowed to ask questions, anti-natal classes and having your partner with you in the labour ward.
Being pregnant is no longer treated as a sickness which it was in my day.
But reading the report about all those women who phoned into Joe Duffy, it strikes me that the care itself doesn’t seem to have improved.
Back in the 1960s we were treated like children and I felt very disempowered but at least I was well looked after and went home with all the skills I needed to take care of my baby
Obviously, in my mother’s day, things were very different again. My own poor mother had thirteen children and back then, the registrar used to go around the ward as soon as a baby was born and you had to give her the name for the birth certificate.
My mother, having given birth only an hour beforehand, couldn’t think of a name for my brother. So baby Stapleton was inserted on his birth certificate.
It was only when my brother needed the cert to get married that he realised his official Christian name was ‘baby’ and it was a terrible job to try get it changed in time for the wedding.
Ava Stapleton is a retired counsellor who continues to provide counselling in her local community on a voluntary basis.
She is a mother of five, grandmother of twelve and also has three great-grandchildren.
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A 20-30% drop? From what I’ve seen it’s more like 20-30% are still using public transport.
@Lurfic: it’s badly written. It says it has fallen TO between 25% and 30%.
I would read that as a 70% – 75% fall
@Lurfic: How can you keep apart on public transport…..you would want to be insane to use it but some have no choice.
@Lurfic: 400,000 people used Dublin bus a day last week, 80,000 to 120,000 now if your numbers are correct. This virus commonly spreads by touching contaminated surfaces.
There’s a famous case of a Dr who visited Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak in 2002-03. Stayed at a hotel, 11 people on the same floor got sick because they touched the same lift buttons.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/14/hong-kong-hotel-hosted-super-spreader-in-the-2003-sars-outbreak.html
“Whenever an individual makes contact with a surface, there is an exchange of microbial life, including a transfer of viruses from the individual to the surface and vice-versa.” Dietz et al., 2020
Public transport, especially Buses, are potentially a huge cause of infection because so many people touch the same surfaces each day.
I also say wrong advice given about dentists by the government today.
Ref.:
Dietz, L., Horve, P.F., Coil, D., Fretz, M. & Wymelenberg, K.V.D. 2020. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Review of the Current Literature and Built Environment (BE) Considerations to Reduce Transmission, https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202003.0197.v1
Jan. 23: Public transport on buses, trains and ferries in Wuhan are suspended from 10 a.m. local time to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Good! less amount of people in close contact on public transport the better!
@Bobby wilson: And so they should continue! Most people are continuing. And there the ones who plan on cutting down historic trees and robbing peoples front gardens
@Whoswho:
Let’s get a grip here. In the last 2 weeks more people have been killed in traffic accidents than from COVID19. If we’re talking respiratory issues, there’s a direct correlation between the number of cars in Dublin and the number of children with asthma, other respiratory issues have been on the rise for quite some time too.
Fewer cars on the roads is better for us overall, buses aren’t the enemy here.
COVID19 is serious, and avoiding public transport right now is sensible, but this isn’t a normal situation and basing our transport policy purely on the events of these months is foolish.
@: OK you hop on a bus without a mask that actually works and see how you get on……this is only starting when it gets going it will be carnage.
@Peter Hughes:
Lad, I literally just said avoiding public transport right now is sensible. I’m saying we shouldn’t base our future transport policy on a once-a-century event.
U really have some sort of anti car agenda dont u. I’ve seen u on other posts and it always the same copy and paste remark.
The last post I read ur comments was where a young lad had died in a car in Clare. U turned that into a rant about jailing drivers who are polluting Dublin. Go away will ya, people like u with their little agendas, ur transparent.
@Sam Greene:
Opinions? In the comments section? Inconceivable!
And no the comment was that people who kill people with their cars should be jailed. Not exactly a radical idea.
Probably because most of Dublin is closed down & also good to see people are keeping their distance when they can!
Surely running a full service puts transport workers health at risk ?
Less transport would mean more people in the one bus/tram/train.
Particulary those with underlying health conditions.
@Ashling Fenton: Exactly – running fewer buses and trains would be ridiculous at this stage.
in other news…. when the sun goes down….. it gets dark
@thomas patrick: not if you turn the lights on
Portlaoise to Heuston train this week has been nearly empty in mornings. Some people still managed to be less than 2 metres away, with plenty of seats available.
All public transport should have hand sanitizer on them. I saw a Dublin bus today and people on it and NO social distancing. We need to temperley suspend public transport otherwise this will spread like wildfire.
@alan scott: How exactly are people to get to clinics, hospitals and their necessary services without public transport? It could well come down to walking because people don’t have the fare, but if they have no choices, and need to buy food, or medicines, that is what public transport is for.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: well i don’t see many people using public transport do you? and what is wrong with cars, don’t say people dont have cars, (neighbor’s can help out also that is looking out for the elderly message is for) a lot of volunteer organisations for which I’m part of are standing by FOR THIS REASON!!!!. You make yourself look silly with your comment goodbye. Stay safe
@alan scott: Yeah, good idea. You can fit at least 4 people in to a car!!!!
@alan scott: and please explain to me how you’re supposed to keep 2 metres away from your neighbour/family member/friend if they give you a lift? Hop in the boot?? Cop on will ya, not everyone has the luxury of having someone that can help like that at a moments notice.
@alan scott: we all don’t have cars some of us depend on public transport..
@Mark Mulligan: there is lots of frontline and volunteer organisations the irish red cross, st John’s, order of malta are standing by to help those in need, getting groceries, prescriptions, hospital visit etc. They are standing by to help free of charge. We will have face mask, gloves, face shield, and apron so the risk is low for us to get infected or likewise for them. Its better then been on Dublin bus where every day a junkie is injecting themselves or snorting something.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: according to rte news 75% in drop on public transport. I dont mean to across as been insensitive but people are been selfish by going on public transport where they are sitting in close proximity to each other when they know the risk is to high to travel on public transport. I dont think I have to get to work or il get sacked if I dont turn up is going to work with this virus. Many people are working from home including me, this is not going to easy but my health and others is more important.
@alan scott: People working on the front line in supermarkets, hospitals, surgeries, haulage, maintenance teams, etc. can’t work from home. The 25% still need to get to work or society will completely shut down. We cant just pack them off in to car sharing for obvious reasons. Public transport isn’t ideal but its better than the alternative.
@alan scott: OK, so how many staff have they got versus how many people require their assistance?? There’s not enough to help everyone and that’s why we still need a transport system in place for those who are mobile and still able to use it! As a bus driver I’d love to know what bus or busses you get that you see masses of drug taking. Have you reported it to the driver? The guards? Or do you pretend it doesn’t happen and hopefully it’ll go away
@Mark Mulligan: you have a point not all the time but it does happen. And I have reported it to both guards and the driver. I drive also so 85% of times I have to go somewhere I drive, maybe i dont see it from the point of view of people who use public transport as a necessity but from a hygiene point of view public transport in ireland and esp Dublin leaves much to be desired. Good day
@alan scott: now ur just being silly. Those services couldnt possibly cover all the people who would need their support if buses were not running. But people should defo be sitting apart and wear gloves so as not to touch the surfaces, poles ect on buses.
@alan scott: That goes against all the best advice worldwide. Some people must use public transport.
@alan scott: You can drive not all of us can for various reasons. Some people need to travel and you are ignoring that.
No implementation of social distancing on transport yet.
@Mark: my husband is a transport worker. They’ve only been given hand sanitizer. He is asking passengers to board at the front door only and disembark by centre doors. He said there are very few using public transport, but as long as people are working the NTA will provide a service. He also has an underlying health condition, I’m worried he might bring this virus into our home.
@Nicola McClurg: A Bus Eireann driver i know told me all they were given were baby wipes no hand sanatizer no gloves.. Crazy way for frontline staff to be treated
@Nicola McClurg: the Employers have a duty of care to their staff. Ur husband should be issued with gloves and hand sanitizer. Thats disgraceful.
Buses are normally filthy but no way in hell will I be using a bus or train during this pandemic.
@Lisa: I had no alternative but to get the bus today when going food shopping, as I don’t drive and the nearest supermarket is too far away to carry several, heavy bag-loads from. A woman – with a young boy beside her! – was close to coughing up her lungs. (I guess that she missed all those media notices about Self-Isolating if you think you might be infected.) Thankfully she was at the far end of the bus and well away from me. Don’t know what I’m going to do now as regards getting in vital provisions, but there’s no way I’m using public transport anymore while this crisis goes on.
@Sean May: she should have been arrested
@Sean May: time to get a bike with panniers buddy. No better time – quiet roads now and everything.
Kill two birds with one stone – virus free transport plus get your exercise in.
Cycling increasing in cities all over right now for those reasons
@Jazz Buckler: A nice suggestion, Jazz and appreciated. Alas, I have COPD, so while I can manage the walk to the supermarket okay, by the time I got back from there on a bike with a gonkey-load of shopping, I wouldn’t be needing to wait for Corona to finish me off, lol. I should add that I live alone and am socially isolated, so the option of having someone to drive me back does not exist either. Thanks for your comment though, and I hope that you and yours will all be okay. Cheers!
@Sean May: taxi is safer in this situation and drivers are voluntary ring your local one for assistance next time
@Sean May: are stores still doing home deliveries? I dont know if theyvare , but might help u if they are.
@Tony O Neill: Arrested for coughing. Great idea.
@Jazz Buckler: I was waiting for the bike says the day post
Not everyone in Dublin drives and there are people who still have to get to work to keep things going. Public transport has been a life saver for me.
Will only be using buses for hospital appointments from now on
@David Jordan Dr Who is a fictional character. He certainly did not appear in Hong Cong.
Any chance that the (few) bus drivers that love to jam on their brakes sharply (even with less traffic about!!) would calm their driving down? This seems like a sport to a rare few drivers – to jam on and cause passengers to lurch forward forcing them to grab onto the virus-laden handrails. Please, please drive a little more smoothly.
Also agree strongly that all drivers be supplied with masks, gloves and hand sanitiser – even the few brake-jammers out there!
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