Assisi Mother & Baby Homes

[Damian Keady]

Hi all... Just putting this out there as yet another example of major abuse by the Catholic Church... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45500072

It makes M&B Homes pale into some sort of insignificance maybe?... but actually in my mind they are all linked and disgusting... How can the rest of the world let the slow release of abuse by the church be not investigated and punished?

[Damian Keady]

Hi all...

any one out there any good at maths?

So take a M&B home that can accommodate 36 mums to be at any one time (that's a full house), that has a maternity ward to look after 20 babies at any one time., (Assisi) and confinement was 6 weeks prior to birth and six weeks with baby.. then out the door.

Based on 52 weeks a year and a rolling birth rate / overlap and new residents (based on occupancy above), how many babies were born in a year?

My own calculation / formula has at least 200 babies a year. I might be wrong.. So apologies for that..

However right or wrong I might have been, if you then take the base level and multiply again... for the time (years) this was occurring you are then into the thousands.

Just my thoughts
Damo

[Damian Keady]

Just bumping.... I had a really good chat this evening with others on this site (not this thread necessarily) who are amazing at finding out info.

Will not mention names, as not allowed methinks, however thanks to you all!

The search goes on though...

Best wishes
Damo

[Newell60]

Damian. When  you say “6 weeks after birth then out”, did we babies stay at the home till they had adoptive parents to go to?

[Damian Keady]

Hi Newall60.

In answer to your question.

Mothers and babies stayed at the home for 6 weeks after DOB, the reason for this was so they could feed breast feed the babies for the first 6 weeks after birth. As far as I can tell expectant mothers only ever entered the home 6 weeks prior to the DOB. Hence the 12 weeks duration in total. As far as I can tell this was strictly adhered to.. there was no leeway in the process.

Those mothers who were returning home, trying to make a go of it on their own (extremely difficult for them to be allowed to do so, most babies were adopted) or were going to families who were supportive, took their babies with them when they left the home. Those whose babies were up for adoption, if an adoptive family had been found gave up their babies on the day of discharge or even before they left the home.

Those babies who were up for adoption but had no adoptive parents lined up went on to baby nurseries (factories) run by the Catholic church until they were eventually adopted, or were as in my case supposedly privately fostered, however I challenge that as I think babies were given away to so called foster parents as this was a way of keeping the wheels turning, as there was probably not enough potential adoptive parents for the amount of babies born. So to be clear, at 6 weeks old mother and baby were separated, as either mothers (sometimes forcibly) signed over their babies for adoption, or if they were not legally of age to do so, then a guardian or family member did it for them. All babies were by default baptised before they left the M&B home, in my case it was on the day of discharge

I have attached a template of what the register at Assisi and other institutions recorded during the mothers confinement and birth of baby. They are just the headings of what was inputted into a hand written register for each individual mother and baby in the home. I have a copy of mine which took me a long time to track down and get a copy of from the Catholic Children's Society... formerly the adoption society. I will elaborate more on what was recorded under each heading in another post. It was scant information but more than I had known before I got hold of a copy.

I am not sure if I have answered your question but hope this helps.

Best wishes
 Damo

[Damian Keady]

Hi All..

This link below is so sad, but gives insight into M&B Homes in Ireland back in the day as they say.. I am not saying the same occurred here in the UK, but that M&B homes here in the UK (Catholic ones anyway) do trace back to there and follow a pattern.

Some of you may already be familiar with Tuam ... as it has been in the media a lot recently, as well as over the past few years. However please don't read this if you are not already familiar as it is very upsetting, even for me, but I find it very insightful of the times, even if we are only talking about decades since this practice of M&B Homes went on. That for me is the issue, it is a still living memory and will be for generations to come.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/28/world/europe/tuam-ireland-babies-children.html

D

[Damian Keady]

“If you don’t find something, you don’t leave it. You ask why it’s not there. You use ‘why’ a lot.”

Quote above from Catherine Corless - bless you Catherine..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Corless

[Newell60]

Thanks for that reply Damien. I have a vaccination paper signed by my birth Mum 10 weeks after I was born at the home. I’m guessing now that it was pre signed and then dated when I was handed over to my adoptive Mum and Dad. Out of interest,and sorry if I seem nosey, did you ever meet your birth mum.
Ernie

[Damian Keady]

Hi Ernie

Hope you are well and apologies for my slow reply..

I can't say for a fact that babies were never in a M&B home for longer than 6 weeks after birth, as I honestly just don't know. Sorry..

All I can say is everything I have read up on M&B Homes, as much as I can find out so far, leads me to believe that it would have been extremely unusual for either Mother or Baby to still be in the home much after 6 weeks after DOB. But not impossible...

With regards to your 2nd question, yes I did meet my mother later on (twice very briefly)...  I was in my teens, she instigated the contacts, then she went missing again almost immediately after and I have had no contact since, which is almost 40 years now.. My so called Foster Parents never told me anything about my background or birth parents, I eventually ended up in council care (first an Assessment Centre and then a children's Home) and am still trying to find out what I can now, as are many others.

Not sure how much this helps, but I do wish you all the best, and never give up looking.. one day you may find what it is you are looking for..

All the best

Damian