article_snippet: The evolution of childbirth: By the 1940s, men were increasingly present at birth although the advent of the NHS in 1948, meant that more mothers than ever before were now having more mothers than ever before babies in hospital.
article_snippet: The hand that rocked the cradle was closer to the truth than you would imagine and among the upper classes it was common to have wet nurses breastfeed so that one mother would soon be pregnant again.
article_snippet: On the one hand, childbirth had the potential to be redemptive.
article_snippet: In reality, however, families were obviously relieved when women gave birth relatively easily and recovered quickly.'
article_snippet: By the time Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837, male doctors could be present at births although male doctors were not supposed to look at male doctors patients, just touch male doctors.
article_snippet: While the idea of giving birth in a stupor might have appealed to some women, there were risks to both mother and her newborn baby.
article_snippet: By the 1940s, men were increasingly present at birth although the advent of the NHS in 1948, meant that more mothers than ever before were now having men babies in hospital.
article_snippet: The biggest shift in attitude to childbirth and pregnancy arrived kicking and screaming in the 1970s.
article_snippet: Arguable for the first time, conception, pregnancy and childbirth were embraced as something that could be modified to suit the individual.
article_snippet: Men also had the choice whether to attend the birth or not, although many fathers-to-be still deemed that a labour ward was not the place for men and spent the time at the pub instead, ready to wet the baby's head.