Finding out you're pregnant is an exciting yet nervous time for most women. For some, regular doctor's appointments, ultrasounds and the wealth of information on the internet can make those nine months a little less scary. But that wasn’t always the case for expectant mothers just a few decades ago.
An over-the-counter pregnancy test let first time mom Maggie Thompson know within 10 minutes that her life was about to change forever. “No drinking. No drugs. I work out a lot so the doctor’s said don’t get your heart rate over 140,” says Thompson.
Along with those instructions, doctors gave Maggie an informational packet that outlined things such as exercise guidelines, medication use and nutritional recommendations for pregnant women. But pregnancy packets were not always available to expectant mothers.
“Most women were going to sleep at the end of delivery and having a forceps delivery. They weren’t even awake when the baby was born,” says Dr. Keim Houser, who has been in medicine since the 1960s.
Houser goes on to say when he first started his medical career, women were not told to limit their alcohol and caffeine intake. Furthermore, cigarettes were still sold in hospital vending machines.
Dr Etta Nevel started her medical career in the 1980s and said ultrasounds were just making their presence known. “We used it very sparingly and mother’s still didn’t know the sex of the baby until it was born,” says Nevel.
The risk of fetal alcohol syndrome and medication use also became a concern for pregnant women during this time period. “C-sections were very rare and women also stayed in the hospital up to 10 days after delivery,” says Nevel.
Babies have been born the same way for generations, but our knowledge of how to care for them before they arrive continues to evolve. And with technology advancing at such a rapid pace, what we're told to do today may even be off-limits by the time our children become parents themselves.