Alice Reid

Both my grandmothers lost children during or shortly after birth, and laid at least some of the blame on their care during that period. My maternal grandmother, a trained midwife, was worried about being allowed to go well beyond her due date less than two years after a previous caesarean birth. When she finally went into labour the doctor delayed his attendance because he was reluctant to leave his game of bridge, and the baby was stillborn. My paternal grandmother blamed a bombing raid for precipitating early labour, and her baby only lived three days. As a premature infant the baby would have been very vulnerable, but my grandmother felt she would have lived had the midwife not insisted on bathing her so frequently.  

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