Z1205/235

Female. District Nurse & Midwife b. 01.11.1942 Side A (00 mins)Born in Flitwick. Mother from Wales. Father from Eversholt. Both were widowed before they met and took on stepchildren. She worked in the laundry at Steppingley Hospital. 7 children including 3 after their second marriage. (05 mins)Mother came from Maesteg, South Glamorgan. Interviewee used to visit her grandparents there in a mining area. Miners used to sing hymn when they were on their way home from the mines. Maternal Grandfather had a pony and trap. Grandparents were very religious and strict. (10 mins)Still holidays in Wales. Remembers, at the end of the Second World War that Woburn Park was full of aircraft needing repair. Father was 23 years older than Mother. Father's side of the family are long-livers. (15 mins)Father worked in the pan shed at Marston Valley brickworks until into his seventies. He cycled to work from Flitwick. He used to take fossils home to her for her school nature table. (20 mins)Father was nearly 60 when she was born. She thinks Father left school at 10, after passing a certain grade, and worked on a farm. (25 mins)They had a long walk to school. Father used to grow vegetables in their large garden. Her brothers tended to bully her. (30) mins) Attended Sunday school. Still has a strong faith but doesn't go to church. (32 mins)End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Her relatives in Wales attend the Apostolic Church, where sermons can be 2 hours long. As a child attended Evensong with Mother and sometimes Father. She was confirmed in the Church of England when she was 15. Behaviour on Sundays was very restricted because of religious observance. (05 mins)Used to holiday by staying with various members of the family, in Wales or on a farm in Wiltshire, where an Aunt lived. Travelled by coach. Train fares were expensive and they had no car. Passed the 13+ exam at Redbourne Secondary School for a selective school and moved to Luton Technical School (now Barnfield College) until 16. (10 mins)Was always in the top three in her class in Redbourne. She had to travel by train and then bus to attend the Luton school. She received a commercial/business education, including book-keeping, shorthand and typewriting. Took GCSE and RSA examinations. Left school and took a job with an insurance company as secretary to the accountant. (20 mins)After 2 years she got bored and decided to start training as anurse, which has always interested her. Trained at Luton and Dunstable Hospital School of Nursing from January 1961. Lived in at the hospital. (25 mins)Nearly half of trainee nurses dropped out. Started as a District Nurse plus midwive in Autumn 1965, for £28 per month, on call 24 hours a day. Enjoyed helping people, in their homes. (30 mins)3 years' training for State Registration then additional training as a midwife. (32 mins) End of Side B.CONTINUED ON CS235C2 Side A (00 mins)Midwifery training. Got married. Covered nine villages as district nurse and midwife. Some women still had babies delivered at home. (05 mins) Had tied council house in Aspley Guise. Had two children. (10 mins)Started working part-time ad District Nurse, with no midwifery. Over the years, moved to Flitwick, then Kempston for 12 years, then returned to full-time District Nursing in Shefford. Mother helped with child-minding. Care plans set by doctors set out what treatment the district nurse gives to individuals. (15 mins)Learning new practises and discussing patients with doctors. Some doctors liked home births; some insisted on hospital births. She had hers at home. Mobile phones now enabled doctors to be called in emergencies. (20 mins)Home deliveries. She delivered her niece's baby in Eversholt. (25 mins)Has never found that husbands panic, when their wives are having a baby. She always gives them something simple to do, to help them feel they are assisting. She prefers natural birth and dislikes the trend of doctors to interfere and deliver by caesarean section. She feels that childbirth has been taken out of the control of midwives by doctors. (30 mins)Feels that births should be family events and not treated like illnesses. (32 mins)End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Trend in patients spending less time in hospital and needed more care at home. Care of terminally ill patients at home. Specialist Macmillan nurses to call on. (05 mins)Heavy workloads. Covering for absent colleagues within a group. Modern nurses are no longer prepared to do personal patient care; they want to administrate. Use of overseas auxiliary nurses. (10 mins)Nursing training now college based. She is glad that she did the hand-on training. Now retired. Never regrets going into nursing. Has been married for 38 years. (15 mins)Going into people's homes, you see all sorts of things. Educational role of district nursing. (20 mins)Has taught herself to use a computer in retirement. Has done voluntary typing for the Marston Vale oral history project. Keen on bird watching and has a pair of binoculars in the car. Likes long country walks. Changes in the Vale over the years. Increases in housing. (24 mins) End of Side B.END OF INTERVIEW. Original interview 115 mins

11 July 2003

From: 1940 To: 2003

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laundries, Steppingley Isolation Hospital, mining, World War Two, military aircraft, fossils, Sunday Schools, religious practices, Barnfield College, secretary, curriculum shorthand, nurse, midwives, doctors, hospitals, computers, birdwatching, brick worker, Luton & Dunstable Hospital, FLITWICK, Wales, EVERSHOLT, Woburn Park, ASPLEY GUISE, KEMPSTON, SHEFFORD