There were several Maternity Homes in the Moruya District, operating at various times. An early one was at 65 Campbell Street on the top of the hill opposite the Anglican Rectory and possibly another one on the corner of Page and Murray Streets. The following stories are of three of the later maternity homes.

Molly Constable conducted a maternity home on the corner of Campbell and Hawdon Streets in the old Gundary Hotel in the 1920s, early 1930s.

It is possible that her mother and grandmother may have conducted a similar home there before Molly as three Shumack children, Victor born 1910, Aubrey born 1915 and John born 1918 were reported to have been born there.

Molly's family was very much involved in nursing, her grandmother Mary Connors was at one time matron of the local cottage hospital. Elizabeth, Molly's mother, had lived at the hospital and assisted Mary with the day to day running of the hospital. However when Elizabeth married George Constable permission for the couple to live at the hospital was refused and so Mary resigned.

Some ten years later, George, Elizabeth and her mother Mary, moved to the old hotel. This building was ideal for a hospital as most of the rooms were not connected but opened onto the interior verandah around the central courtyard. With Elizabeth and Mary's knowledge of nursing it seems they may soon have started a maternity home there.

Molly took over in the 1920s and had an excellent reputation as a very competent midwife, believing that there was seldom an occasion when the mother should be in need of stitches if the midwife had done her work properly.

By the mid 1930s Molly's mother Elizabeth was showing signs of the arthritis disease which progressively crippled her and left her bedridden for the last 15 years of her life. Molly eventually had to give up being a midwife to look after her mother full time with assistance from her sister Nell. By the 1940s her brother Bill was also showing signs of the inherited arthritis disease and he too eventually became bedridden to be nursed by Molly.

Bedsores were a huge problem for long term bed ridden patients. However Molly and Nell gave the patients frequent rubdowns with methylated spirits which kept Elizabeth and Bill largely free from this discomfort. Elizabeth died in 1949 and Bill in 1964. But it did not end there.

Molly also became a victim and it fell to Nell to nurse her. Nell and other brother Fred did not inherit the disease. Neither married nor had children so the disease died in this branch of the family.

These two ladies who were sisters, conducted a maternity home in the late 1920s, early 1930s at 62 Campbell Street, across the road from the present day museum.

In her book "Not Just Ordinary People", Pam Oxley, tells of being born there after her parents' harrowing trip from Central Tilba where they had a bakery. In 1930 the road from Tilba to Moruya was a winding dirt track. On September 19, 1930 someone called at the bakery and relayed the news that a furniture truck had broken through the bridge at Corunna and the road to Moruya was now blocked.

Minnie Wiggins was in the last few weeks of her first pregnancy. She had suffered some damage to her heart through a childhood illness and her kidneys were not the best either so there was extra concern for her well-being. Shortly after the news of the bridge being blocked reached them Minnie went into labour three weeks early.

It was essential that she reached the maternity home in Moruya so what was to be done?

Clarrie her husband had a 1927 Chevrolet which had been made into a ute for delivering his bread. He crammed Minnie and her sister Daphne into the ute and headed off through the bush to try to find another way to Moruya and help.

All night they drove through the bush trying one rough track after another and crossing many creeks. By the time they finally reached Moruya dawn was breaking. Minnie by this time could not sit on the seat and Daphne was struggling to hold her up.

They reached the hospital just in time for Pamela Dawn to be born on 20th. She was named Pamela Dawn as her father had read a novel where the heroine was called Pamela and she was born at Dawn. Minnie went on to have two more children without problems.

Sister O'Neill opened her Hillside Private Hospital on the corner of Murray and Luck Streets in 1938.

The hospital had five beds and a laying in room. Around 50 births per year took place here. The average stay of patients was 12 days and it cost ninety shillings per week.

It had been hoped to provide maternity services at Moruya hospital for those who could not afford the private hospital but the War intervened. By 1941 Sister O'Neill was wanting to retire so the Hospital Board looked at two options. The first was that they would take over Sister O'Neill's lease at 30 shillings per week and pay her £200 for its contents. This would require a subsidy from the Hospital Commission.

The second option was to let the lease run out and move the maternity operations to the hospital. This would require a new block costing between £1200 and £4400. The problem was passed to the Hospital Commission. Pending the outcome Nurse Coman was appointed to deal with maternity cases at the hospital in the public wards.

The Secretary to the Hospital Commission and the Secretary of the NSW Minister of Health came to Moruya to meet with the Hospital Board and Doctor Mackay.

They were not interested in the purchase of the private hospital. It was suggested that a six bed maternity block be built at the hospital but this would be difficult even if the money could be found as there was a shortage of tradesmen and materials due to the War.

The Board was left to make arrangements to keep Sister O'Neill's Hillside Hospital open with Nurse Keating asked to take over. This did not eventuate and the Board decided to turn the Isolation Wards at the hospital into the basis for a new Maternity Wing.

Sister O'Neill carried on at Hillside with private patients until the building was made ready. The first full year of operation of the Maternity Wing was 1943-44 with 29 births, down from the average at Hillside of around 50.

'Harrowing stories of birth first' appeared on the Bay Post