Childbirth statistics have been on my mind this week. First I was wondering how much the NHS spent on maternity services in the 1960s. I am sure it was a lot less than today, even though in 1964 there were 876,000 births compared with under 700,000 at present. It is even more extraordinary to think that mothers could expect a stay of 10 days in hospital with their baby, even after a normal birth - unless, of course the baby was born at home
Then came the fuss about immigrant mothers pushing up the current birth rate
Although the number of births now is nothing extraordinary by historical standards it was interesting to look at whether the year-on-year change is unusual
Imagine how the NHS would cope with a sudden increase of 140,000 in the number of babies it had to deliver in one year
Which is exactly what happened in 1946, when 821,000 babies were born compared with 680,000 in 1945.
Though of course it was not the NHS which had to cope, because the NHS did not exist. It is salutary & humbling to think how all those new mothers got through it in the post war conditions. And who paid?
It is also salutary to think how such changes in the birth rate work their way through. Free bus rides have been extended to all those over 60 just as the survivors of that great post war baby boom reach their landmark birthday
My daughter was born in the midst of the 1960s baby boom, in a hospital which, though part of the NHS, was run by the Salvation Army. I can testify that things were hectic, with more mothers in labour than there were beds in the labour ward. I do not know if they ever had to deliver a baby outside the delivery suite, but it would not surprise me
Now very few babies are born outside premises run by the NHS. Years of regular falls in the number of births encouraged everyone to think of bespoke birth plans & more babies born at home with NHS support
I wonder how many of the young women who are being blamed for putting a strain on the maternity services are the very same ones who have been eagerly recruited to keep the whole service running at all
