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Marston Green Hospital

Yes please Degsy. One of my sons was in the prem unit there so photos of the hospital would be welcomed :)
 
I was born in Marston Green Hospital in 1956 and my mum was married .. Im the middle child . She lived in Nechells Green at the time .
So perhaps thats what it was an overspill maternity home ?
Regards Jean
 
Jean, at the time you were born, when your preganancy was confirmed your doctor contacted the Bed Bureau and you were allocated a hospital.
My son was born January 1959 (he was 50 last Saturday) at the time I was living in Aston, it was a fair old trek to go for ante-natal check-ups - as posted there was a mini bus which used to pick the expectant mothers up en route, I had to get to the old Tivoli cinema on the Coventry Road, (Swan Centre) nowadays, and it was a two bus journey to get to the Tivoli.
 
Blimey Silvia how hard was it then for expectant mothers , they wouldnt do that trek these days would they . But then these days people are very lazy . Thanks for the reply :)
Jean
 
Jean, we were a tougher lot in those days!!! It was also difficult for our husbands to visit us after a days work, and the visiting hours were very restricted, only one visitor, so my husband had to come to see me for a short time and then let my mother have a quick word with me and see her grandson. I was only thinking about it last week, how quickly 50 years have gone by - our husbands were not allowed to stay with us during labour like they do these days, in fact the fathers were considered somewhat of a nuisance to be tolerated not welcomed.
 
Marston Green Hospital was built in 1939 by the Canadians. I have photos on my posting as I worked there for 9 years. If you need any further Info. Contact me
 
The site became Marston Green Hospital in 1948 when the NHS was formed. Before this it was the 19th Canadian Hospital. I worked there for 9 years. Let me know if you want any more info. I have posted photos.
 
Oh..........yes please! I was most disappointed to read that Degsy said he had posted the pics and there were none there :cry:
 
Hi all.

I am sorry, there would seem to be a lot of people requiring info on MGH. I am here to help but the load is over whelming....
 
My son, being our first child, was born in Marston Green Hospital in January 1952. I phoned the hospital from a callbox at around 9:30 pm and was told my wife was about to be taken into the delivery room. Asking if I could visit that night, I was told it was outside normal visiting hours but I might be allowed in for a few minutes if the birth was normal. I caught the 14 bus to it's terminus from where I walked to the hospital in deep, slushy snow.

When I arrived, there were no other visitors around and it seemed very quiet. I was warmly welcomed by a nurse who informed me that my son had just been born (at 10:20 pm) and that I'd have to wait some time due to my wife having stitches. While nervously waiting, she supplied me with tea and biscuits and, before eventually being allowed into the delivery room, I had to don a long green gown, hat and face mask.

There was a little humour added to that evening of joy when another nurse popped her head round the door and, seeing me in my hospital garb, asked...... "Have you done that one?" "Er...yes" I replied. My wife was still in a state of exhaustion, but it didn't stop us seeing the funny side of that remark and we chuckled about it for years after.:D

She was in there for about 10 days and my subsequent visits were sometimes made via the 'Blunder Bus' mentioned earlier.
 
Degsys photos are in his album, he is having trouble posting them on the thread, I just had a look, they bought back some memories.
 
Hi Sylvia yes time does pass really quickly . My mum says this she is 78 now . She did have hard times she had 9 children but only 5 of us survived . She still thinks of us a children . She says 'Im the mother and your the child!' even now Im 54.
What part of ast5on did you live ?
Jean
 
Photographs of Marston Green Hospital Circa 1980
 

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Thanks for the photo's Degsy, our Sally was born there in 1962. It was August, the sun shone and we moms would stand outside at the back of the ward as soon as sister cleared off for the day.:)
 
Degsey lovely photo's that I know will make a few people very happy to see. Thank you for posting them I hope you are keeping well. Wendy.
 
Thanks for posting the pics Degsy, I think the covered walks between the wards were built after 1959 as my memory is there was just a roof without sides enclosed then. My mother was in Marston Green Hospital in November 1980 not to have a baby I hasten to add, as she was 80 years old, and the photo of the entranc e was how I remember it from that time.

Catsclaw, I was born in Copeley Street, Aston, and moved into rooms in Small Heath in 1957 when I got married, but then got a house in Burlington Street where we lived at the time I became a mother.
 
Thank you Degsy for the photos.

My middle son was born at St Michael's Hospital in Lichfield and as he was only 4lbs 2ozs born he was taken away to Marston Green Prem and it was 14 days before I saw him again. He looked nothing like the baby I gave birth to!! He had lost so much birth weight he was like a skinned rabbit!!

I remember the walkways and they weren't covered in then. We could only veiw the baby from outside through the window and he was nearly 5 weeks old before I could hold him :( and he was 8 weeks before we could take him home :shocked: How different things are today.

This was in May 1961.
 
Thanks for your message. i posted more photos in my profile and will post more after research. Anyway, that is not me in the photo as I took the picture. The chap was a young lad gaining work experience with the Porters.

Marston Green Hospital was a ' happy event hospital' which means the staff where always jolly. But it did carry its headaches for those in the maintenance department who tried to maintain standards (of which I was one). And for all those who suffered.... We really did turn up the heating in the Winter months......
 
I had my youngest daughter there in 1991 and they were talking about demolishing it then, does anyone know what year it was demolished?
 
My daughter was born there in 1992 and spent 5 weeks in the prem unit, and her brother was born in Heartlands (heartless more like) in 1994, think it closed in 1993, but wouldnt swear on it.

Wendy.xxx
 
& Degsy. Many thanks for those pictures. My two sons where born there in 1975 & 1977, and that is when we moved up to Scotland, so it is great to see the old place again. Barry.
 
Thank you Degsy for the great memory lane photos . My son was born there in 1962.
After 11 hrs in labour through the night ,he decided to make a sudden appearance ,so I was transferred to a wheelchair and taken along those outside footpaths to the labour room , at a very cold and frosty 7am . But guess what ? There was no room for me at the inn ( sorry , the labour room ) . So he was born in a stable ( sorry , a stock cupboard )
The next evening a king arrived ,BEARING GIFTS .

As I said earlier , thanks for the memories .:beam::beam:
 
sylviasayers said:
Cromwell I'm pretty sure they were, you could certainly see Chelmsley Hospital from Marston Green Maternity Hospital, but of course there was a lot of security fencing between the two, although I have a recollection children were treated/cared for at Chelmsley Hospital. I don't know anything about the memorial, would it be worth contacting the Health Authority for the area.
Click to expand...
In 1948 my girl friend Audry Barton lived with her parents in a large house in the grounds of the hospital. I believe both her mother and father were employed in the hospital. I used to see male patients working in the grounds of the house. I lost track of the family but I did hear that Mr Barton was killed by a hit and run driver. The maternity hospital was there in the early sixties, I was doing consulting work for the hospital board and went there to see the new student accommodation block
 
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