Home births 1930's

[Pinkydinkydoo]

For a home birth born at the start of the 1930's, would there be any documents given to the mother to take to the registrar's? Or
Would it be possible for someone to hand over a baby say to another family member if they were unmarried and for the other person to register the baby as theirs and bring up the child?

Thanks

[stanmapstone]

The information on  certificates is only as good as that supplied by the people involved. The civil registration system in England and Wales is  'informant driven' that is the registrar can only put what he is told. There is a penalty of perjury if the information is willfully false. No documents were given to the mother, or other informant.

Two convictions for offences against the Registration Acts;
On the 6th March, 1917, xxxxx was charged at the Oldham Petty Sessions for having registered as the Birth of her own child that of the child of a woman with whom she lived. Defendant, who pleaded guilty, was fined £2.10s.

On the 2nd  April, 1917, xxxxx was brought up for trial at the Liverpool Assizes charged with having committed perjury by registering the Birth of the child of another woman as that of her own child. Defendant was sentenced to Three Months' Imprisonment.
Stan

[Nick29]

In the 1930's there was no NHS, so women giving birth had three options - have help from another family member (mother or maybe an aunt), pay a midwife, or pay a doctor (the last one obviously being the most expensive option). 

It was by no means unusual for a pregnant daughter to be hidden away, and then her offspring being passed off as her mother's child.   You can see lots of examples of women who have supposedly given birth well into their 40's.

[Rah1980]

It is quite possible for women to give birth well into their forties, my mum was 44 when she had my brother, and an aunt of mine was 48, just because there are old mothers it does not mean they are really grandmothers! I am not saying that grandmothers never passed off their daughters children as their own but a woman being over 40 or over 45 should not point straight to a grandmother passing the child off as their own.

[Redroger]

Yes indeed Nick, I have noticed this particularly in rural Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire on the 19th century censuses, indeed one or two cases are reminescent of modern IVF treatment, the birth seems to have been so late!

[Nick29]

It is quite possible for women to give birth well into their forties, my mum was 44 when she had my brother, and an aunt of mine was 48, just because there are old mothers it does not mean they are really grandmothers! I am not saying that grandmothers never passed off their daughters children as their own but a woman being over 40 or over 45 should not point straight to a grandmother passing the child off as their own.

I didn't say that it did..... I said "it was by no means unusual", and by "well into their 40's" I was really meaning 46 to 49.  You also have to take into account that the age for the onset of the menopause is related to the general health and nourishment of the mother.  Women of the 20th century were healthier and better fed than those of the 19th century, so you can see a trend of women giving birth later in life in more recent times. 

[Cell]

I was really meaning 46 to 49.  You also have to take into account that the age for the onset of the menopause is related to the general health and nourishment of the mother.  Women of the 20th century were healthier and better fed than those of the 19th century, so you can see a trend of women giving birth later in life in more recent times. 

Hi,

I believe that genetics play a far more important role in what age a woman reaches her menopause , plus the amount of active eggs left in a woman than "health".

The "Trend of giving birth in later life in recent times " is not quite true - it's only true if you are referring to the past couple of decades  .

 The England and Wales official government  stats show that they have gone up in the past couple of decades - In fact , if you look at the Government official statistics for England and Wales  they will also  show you that there was a  time in the 1940's the birth rate to older women was higher than it is today. In the US ( for US stats)  I believe that there was period in the 1960's that is higher than it is today.

Could you point me to  any official government  figures that give the stats of the age of older  women who give birth  in the 1800's ? I don't think they have any


Every one of my lines in the 1800's  and early 1900's the women in my family have given birth well into their 40's ( that's the ones that lived past 40  of course)

I believe that there were more women that give  birth in their 40's in the 1800's than there is today - women in the 1800's gave birth until they could no longer give birth ( either from menopause or death). They did not have the same access that we have to contraception or the choices

The general statement given by news articles and the like " that births from older women  have gone up in recent times"  I personally think is very  misleading , they are not comparing them with the 1940's stats let alone the  1800's, they are just comparing them with a couple of very  recent decades .

Kind Regards

[Nick29]

Could you point me to  any official government  figures that give the stats of the age of older  women who give birth  in the 1800's ? I don't think they have any

Any statistics they would have would have come from the census, and are therefore subject to the well-known tactics used to cover up illegitimacy, which include the "adoption" of the offspring of older daughters by their mothers.

[Redroger]

Exactly Nick, I come from a long line of late starters in general, and my family are continuing the trend; however while I would expect a few children to be born to mothers over 45, there are so many in the 19th century censuses that it has to be something else other than the lack of contraception. When I find these situations I only take special notice when there is an unmarried daughter who would have been in her teens or early twenties at the time of the birth in the family.