What Hospitals Told New Mothers In 1968 Illustrates How Times Have Changed

As we all know, being a parent and taking care of a baby has greatly changed over the years. If you don’t believe me, just look at this list of instructions for new mothers written by a hospital in 1968. The interesting and at times hilarious list of rules quickly went viral among mothers.

Many of the items on this list just don’t apply anymore. Some of the rules just don’t even make sense. Look at the photo below and see if you have ever seen anything like it. You may have even gotten the same one back in the day!

See the list for yourself

Along with the photo, Micala Gabrielle Henson wrote, “My mom was going through her things and we saw this, its rules in regards to just having a baby. It gave me a chuckle. How things have changed! This is from 1968! How cool! Thank goodness things have changed, I can’t imagine! Feel free to share!”

The set of rules from 1968 given to new mothers outlines a few things. One is nursing your baby. It says that moms should only nurse their new babies for five minutes only during the first 24 hours. One of the reasons is that the nipples will get sore if the baby nurses for too long… well, duh!

These days, mothers are encouraged to nurse more to make sure the baby is getting enough nutrients. Strange to think they limited this kind of thing back in the day. It is a wonder we all survived!

Another strange rule… a list of foods the new mother should not eat. There isn’t an explanation. Can anyone tell us why new moms were told to avoid this random list of foods including chocolate candy, raw apples, cabbage, nuts, strawberries, cherries, onions, or green coconut cake?

Moms were also advised not to smoke while the baby was in the room. However, they could smoke in the hospital otherwise. How crazy is that?

In addition, there were strict rules on when the new mother could see the baby and rules on visitors. Even the father wasn’t allowed in the room at certain times. Boy, times sure have changed.

Do you remember what it was like in the hospital when you had your child? Did you get a similar list to this at the hospital? Do you still have it somewhere?

If you found this article interesting, please SHARE with all of the mothers in your life!