10 Things That Have Changed Since Our Mums Gave Birth To Us

Did you grow up in the 1980s? If you did, you probably wore corduroy trousers, watched Mr Squiggle on the box and begged your mum for a Dolly Varden birthday cake.

Thermometers had mercury in them, petrol had lead in it and no one wore a helmet on a push bike. More than 30 years on, things are a little different. Including how we raise our children.

Here are ten things that have changed since your mum gave birth..

or when her mum gave birth to her.

1. Buckle Up!

It’s likely that you took your first car trip in your mum’s arms, or in a bassinet. Until the 1960s, child car restraints focused on lifting kids so they could look out the window. They didn’t focus on safety. In the mid-1970s, people started to think about using car seats to protect their kids. But, even in the mid-1980s kids rode lying down across the back seat, sitting on the floor, even in the boot of the station wagon. It was fun, but not safe.

2. Cloth Was Cool

While disposable nappies have been around since the 1940s, they weren’t commonly used until the 1970s and 80s. So, it’s likely you sported a white terry towelling number, complete with blue or pink nappy pin. All the cool cats did. Meanwhile, your mum had endless piles of nappies to soak, wash and hang out on the Hills Hoist.

3. Would You Like a Drink?

If it were 1965, and you were six months pregnant, with a gin and tonic in your hand, no one would bat an eyelid. Drinking was fine. So much so that when expectant mums went into labour prematurely they were often put on an alcohol drip. The drip was supposed to stop the onset of labour, but it also generally left the mum-to-be with a hangover.

Then, in 1973 a University of Washington study discovered Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, and now your Sauvignon Blanc might come with a dirty look from the waiter.

4. What Makes a Family?

Once upon a time, in the idyllic land of Pleasantville, families consisted of a mummy and daddy. They were young and happily married. There was no divorce, no de-facto relationships, no interracial marriages, and if two men (or women) wanted to raise a child together”¦ oh, the horror!

Of course, this isn’t true. Families have always come in many shapes and sizes, but over the years we’ve become more accepting of them.

In 1976, 10% of children were born outside of marriage, and less than half of these babies had their dad’s details recorded on their birth certificate. Step forward to 1993 and a quarter of births were to unwed parents. But, 80% now had dad’s name on their birth certificate.

5. A Home Away from Home

We’ve all seen the pictures of nervous fathers pacing up and down in the waiting room and desperate for news of their wife and baby. Then the overjoyed dad pressed up against the glass of the nursery asking, “which one is mine?”.

Dads weren’t common in delivery rooms until the 1970s, and then they stayed at the head of the bed. At the same time, maternity wards started to change, and gradually newborns moved out of the nursery and in with their mum.