0:00:02 > 0:00:04In this world of transplants, microsurgery and life-saving medicines,
0:00:04 > 0:00:08it's too easy to take for granted the amazing things our doctors do for us.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11We forget just how far we've come in our lifetime.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15So I'm going to take us on a journey to remind us how things used to be.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20I'm Larry Lamb. Welcome to A Picture Of Health.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Coming up, the changing role of a father-to-be...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49One hospital had a white line on the floor
0:00:49 > 0:00:52across which the fathers did not pass.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56..how one woman changed medicine forever...
0:00:56 > 0:01:01She was an amazing woman. She was not going to take no for an answer.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04..the iconic advert that saved thousands of lives...
0:01:06 > 0:01:11..and Larry's special guest in the Picture Of Health surgery today
0:01:11 > 0:01:16is broadcaster Angela Rippon who will be reliving her own medical memories.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19- It was very well done.- It was graphic, but it made the point.- Yeah.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26But we start with the extraordinary story of a disease
0:01:26 > 0:01:29that killed many people and left others disabled for life.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31The mere mention of the word polio
0:01:31 > 0:01:33brought fear to families across Britain.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36And whilst a vaccine was developed,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39its effects still linger on today.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44'Over these families hangs a new threat -
0:01:44 > 0:01:47'the menace of polio.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51'An explosive epidemic, in the words of the city's medical officer.'
0:01:51 > 0:01:56- 'They too should fall victim to the scourge.'- 'Sudden attack of that most dreaded disease, polio.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:04I contracted polio at the age of 15 months old.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07They said my parents had to accept the fact
0:02:07 > 0:02:10that I would spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14I would never walk and, more or less, don't bother coming back
0:02:14 > 0:02:17because there was nothing they could do.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Bryan Rowley is 77 years old, and his passion is sailing.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Every week at Ferry Meadows in Peterborough,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Bryan and his Challenger take to the water.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42It's something that takes him away from painful childhood memories
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The sense of freedom,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48the sense of being totally in control of everything.
0:02:48 > 0:02:56And it's entirely up to me whether I succeed, whether I fail.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03These feelings are far removed from Bryan's early life experiences.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08A childhood plagued by a devastating disease.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10'Over the children of Britain,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12'as early summer draws near, a cloud gathers.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15'Poliomyelitis may reach epidemic proportions.'
0:03:15 > 0:03:18'Great scourge which has yet to be conquered, but which is...'
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Bryan is one of the thousands of children to have contracted polio
0:03:21 > 0:03:24or infantile paralysis as it came to be known.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29'To this cruel disease medical science still has no complete answer.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32'It is heart-rending that children should suffer.'
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Polio has caused paralysis and death for much of human history.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40But it was in the 1940s and '50s that cases reached an all-time high.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'An explosive epidemic, in the words of the city's medical officer.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:47'Parents have taken matters into their own hands
0:03:47 > 0:03:52'and banned their children from bathing here, lest they too should fall victim to the scourge.'
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Up to 8,000 cases a year were being recorded.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Hospitals and doctors were pushed to their limits.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03Sadly, it was children like Bryan who suffered the effects of this strain.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Nobody really understood the disease
0:04:05 > 0:04:08so treatment varied across the country
0:04:08 > 0:04:12according to which ideas a particular consultant had.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15And children weren't told anything.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16Various hospital procedures -
0:04:16 > 0:04:20you weren't allowed to cry or you got told off.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Polio is an infectious viral disease
0:04:23 > 0:04:26that destroys the body's motor neurones
0:04:26 > 0:04:29causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It left some children unable to walk,
0:04:32 > 0:04:37others completely paralysed and parents unable to cope
0:04:37 > 0:04:42Many children were institutionalised. They were just literally put away.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49But Bryan was lucky.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53His parents never considered leaving him.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56They sold their house to pay for whatever treatment he needed
0:04:56 > 0:04:59to straighten out his impaired limbs.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05I have in my hand a plaster cast of my left foot.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09You'll see the enormous deformity of the ankle
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and the way the foot is twisted over
0:05:12 > 0:05:18and also the fact that the sole of the foot is pulled up quite considerably.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Even though Bryan had his parents' support
0:05:22 > 0:05:25he still faced a terrible ordeal.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It began with a series of painful operations
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I'd been told that I would be going to the hospital
0:05:32 > 0:05:33to have my feet made better.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Of course, I was so young, I'd lived with it so long,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40there didn't seem anything wrong with them to me.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Apart from the fact I didn't run round like other children.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46When I woke up from the anaesthetic, I was in this terrible pain.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48That wasn't better to me.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53But Bryan's treatment didn't stop at surgery.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56He faced years of rehabilitation.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I can remember when, to have polio meant
0:06:00 > 0:06:02that you remained a cripple all your life.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05A great deal has been done since then.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Like many children,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12this involved learning to walk in painful leg braces or callipers.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16They are Victorian structures.
0:06:16 > 0:06:23Metal bars which are pinned to a socket in the heel of a boot
0:06:23 > 0:06:27with straps round a pair of metal bars coming up the leg
0:06:27 > 0:06:31to a ring just below the knee in my case.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33They wore through the leather lining
0:06:33 > 0:06:36then rivets started chewing holes in your leg.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41And they were, well, very unpleasant.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50After years of painful operations and rehabilitation,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53doctors finally straightened out Bryan's limbs.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56He's since gone on to live a full and active life.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04I don't know how I feel. It's... It was a bit of me and it isn't now.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06That's probably the simplest way of putting it.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11It just illustrates to me how thankful I am to my parents.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24'Dr Jonas Salk, discoverer of the first successful vaccine against infantile paralysis.'
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Thankfully, cases of polio are now rare in our country.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28In the mid '50s,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32we finally adopted the vaccine that had been developed in America.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36'Tests which have ended for all time the threat of one of the world's most vicious diseases.'
0:07:36 > 0:07:40'The British type of anti-polio vaccine proceeds as fast as possible.'
0:07:40 > 0:07:45The polio sugar lump came next and made the vaccine sweeter to swallow.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47'Oh, come now. That was lovely.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:55By the mid 1960s, polio epidemics in Britain were finally at an end.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03But this devastating disease has left behind many, many memories.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12The development of the polio vaccine was fantastic
0:08:12 > 0:08:17because I wouldn't wish on anyone the sort of problems that I knew about.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24You have two choices with a disability -
0:08:24 > 0:08:28either you sit in a corner and give up or you get with life.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31And I was fortunate that I had parents who encouraged me
0:08:31 > 0:08:33to get on with life.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Bryan's here with us in the Picture Of Health surgery.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48- Hello, Bryan.- Hello. - That's extraordinary.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54I mean, I have to say, your parents were your saviours really,
0:08:54 > 0:08:59- weren't they? - Oh, yes.- What a sacrifice.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I don't know just how much they did sacrifice.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03It was an incredible thing.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Without them, I would have been in a wheelchair and never walking.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08Such generosity.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Because, as we saw in the film, it could have gone so differently
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and now, there you are, living this extraordinary life.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Yes, I hate to be idle. LAUGHTER
0:09:19 > 0:09:24And sailing like that. I mean, that boat was going along at an extraordinary lick.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Well, yes, because on the water I'm the same as anybody else
0:09:29 > 0:09:32- because I don't have to move about.- No.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37- Angela, do you remember this sort of thing of people with polio when you were...?- Oh, yes.- Yeah.
0:09:37 > 0:09:38I can remember at school.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41It was at school we were given, first of all, a little sugar lump
0:09:41 > 0:09:43with the polio vaccine on it.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47That was the first time that it really came home to us.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49I remember that from when I was about three or four,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52when you were first aware that some children were not able to run
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and play and do all of the things that we could do.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58But I think it's extraordinary listening to you talk about
0:09:58 > 0:10:01the way your parents gave such enormous support to you
0:10:01 > 0:10:06because I suspect you probably met young people who didn't have that support from their parents
0:10:06 > 0:10:08who perhaps didn't do quite as well as you.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Oh, yes. I mean, as I say in the film,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15many children were institutionalised.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19It's awful to think of that happening because it wouldn't happen now. It wouldn't be allowed to.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Were you fitted with things that would assist you in walking
0:10:23 > 0:10:25when you were a boy?
0:10:25 > 0:10:29When I was small, I had - this is a much more modern one -
0:10:29 > 0:10:33but I had a calliper vaguely similar to this -
0:10:33 > 0:10:37in fact, I had two - which straps round the leg
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and the pins go into sockets in the heel of the boot.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46- Then there were various straps that went round to hold the ankle.- Yep.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Horribly uncomfortable things to wear.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51And of course the rivets wear badly, they wear through the leather
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and chew chunks out of the side of your leg.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I always had bits missing from the side of my legs,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00but...you've got no choice, you live with it.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04That's it. Bryan, thank you so much for sharing that.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09Just an extraordinary story and everything in that film was...
0:11:09 > 0:11:13- just really, really got to me. Thank you.- Very inspiring.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18- VERY inspiring.- Very glad to be able to share it.- Thank you.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Nowadays when we get into a car,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26there's one thing we do without even thinking.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28We belt up.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30But it wasn't always like that.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Clunk the car door and click the seatbelt.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45It's an iconic advert that has saved thousands of lives
0:11:45 > 0:11:47and changed a nation's habit.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49It can be very unfunny.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53This is the story of why Clunk Click was made
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and how Britain's drivers were finally persuaded to belt up.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09In the mid 1900s, mass production began of the motor car
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and our roads were getting busy.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15But no-one had really thought about
0:12:15 > 0:12:18how dangerous these vehicles could be.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26I remember as a child being in a car with no kind of safety at all.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32We'd be hanging out of the car, then we used to go around - all six of us - packed onto the back seat.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37You were kind of on your own and, I guess, because of that
0:12:37 > 0:12:41the injuries that people suffered were really quite severe.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Road casualties were on the increase
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and this was putting a real strain on our health service.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51I was driving a mini-van and I hit a bus.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54The impact caused me leg to break at the femur, at the thigh.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56..one, go!
0:12:56 > 0:13:00So research began looking at how to make driving safer.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09And in 1967, every car had to be fitted with a seatbelt.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16But even if your car had one, most people failed to belt up.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21I can remember very well
0:13:21 > 0:13:23driving my kids to school
0:13:23 > 0:13:26without seatbelts.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Nobody ever thought that it was particularly dangerous.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33There was a great resentment because a lot of people who were macho drivers
0:13:33 > 0:13:36didn't want to and found it an encumbrance.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Do you think if you'd been wearing a belt
0:13:38 > 0:13:41- you'd have been less seriously hurt?- I think so, yes.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43- Are you in favour of safety belts? - Well, I am now.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48Most people realised that seatbelts could save you.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50But they preferred comfort.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54That seatbelt will reduce your chances of being seriously injured by 50%.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57It will, yes, I know, but you don't do it automatically, do you?
0:13:57 > 0:14:01I resisted them because I didn't want my clothes to get creased.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02Can you imagine?!
0:14:02 > 0:14:05We just didn't think ahead as to what might happen.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08And so there wasn't a great deal of consciousness
0:14:08 > 0:14:10that cars actually were weapons.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Evidence was mounting that seatbelts saved lives
0:14:15 > 0:14:17and would prevent serious injuries.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21'Demonstration films with dummies and live drivers
0:14:21 > 0:14:23'have helped to build up the scientific case for seatbelts.
0:14:23 > 0:14:29'Dummies in fearful crashes can show how the body is protected.'
0:14:29 > 0:14:33And Labour Transport Minister Barbara Castle agreed.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35I've just got to keep on telling them
0:14:35 > 0:14:38that they're taking a stupid and unnecessary risk
0:14:38 > 0:14:41with their own lives and wellbeing on the roads.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47With the car quickly overtaking everything as the biggest killer on the roads
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and hospitals pushed to their limits, the government had to act.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55People started to realise that more and more people were getting cars
0:14:55 > 0:15:00and the NHS are suddenly realising, "We are dealing with road accident after road accident.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02"We should be pre-emptive.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05"We're a health service. We're not just about picking up the pieces,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08"we can actually inform and educate the public
0:15:08 > 0:15:09"to keep them out of trouble,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12"mainly, to keep them safe and healthy - that's the big thing -
0:15:12 > 0:15:14"but also to save the NHS money."
0:15:16 > 0:15:19But to break Britain's habit, something special was needed.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26In the 1970s, Jimmy Savile was a household name.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29The face of Top Of The Pops.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34I can't stand any more. See you next week for another edition of Top Of The Pops.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37He became the number one choice to front the campaign.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42See you again. No, too much, too much, too much. Come on.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48In this interview filmed just before his death,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52the late Sir Jimmy remembers why clunking and clicking was so important.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Smashed faces and smashed bodies and spines were par for the course
0:15:57 > 0:15:59if you had a shunt in a car.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02If you were strapped in with a seatbelt,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06it was an 85-90% chance you'd get away with it.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08So it was logic. Pure logic.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11You can put almost any frail objects in a box
0:16:11 > 0:16:14and provided it's held firm, you can shake it about no end.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18But if it's loose in a box that's another matter.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20And he kind of shook eggs in a box.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25When you saw the eggs shaking, you thought, "Careful, it might break!"
0:16:25 > 0:16:27And then he said, "This could be you."
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"Golly! I might break."
0:16:29 > 0:16:31It doesn't matter who or what you are.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33You can be the world's most experienced driver
0:16:33 > 0:16:38but, to the law of gravity, you're the world's most experienced loose object.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39And it can be very unfunny.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And you think, "That's going to be my brains or my internal organs
0:16:43 > 0:16:46"scrambled up like some kind of omelette."
0:16:47 > 0:16:51No matter how short the journey, nag yourself to remember this drill.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Clunk the car door and click the seatbelt.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Clunk, click, every trip.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Clunk, click, every trip. Brilliant.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Five or six syllables. Bang! You didn't forget it.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10The ads struck a chord. The campaign to wear seatbelts gathered momentum.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13The clunk-clickers are growing in number,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15responding to £60,000 worth of publicity
0:17:15 > 0:17:19in the form of papers, posters and television commercials.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And finally people did start to change their driving habits.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27'Over the last six weeks,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31'the number of drivers wearing seatbelts has doubled.'
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Suddenly, you'd get in a car with somebody and they'd buckle up.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38There was a big press campaign saying how well this was succeeding
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and how idiotic you are if you're not doing it.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45So the whole message came in hard and heavy, which was good.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49'The human body is surprisingly vulnerable,
0:17:49 > 0:17:50'even at 7mph.'
0:17:52 > 0:17:54LAUGHTER
0:17:54 > 0:17:58- Are you going to wear a seatbelt next time?- Er, yeah.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Then finally, in 1983, a bill was passed
0:18:03 > 0:18:07which made the wearing of seatbelts law.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12People realised that they didn't particularly want to be smashed to smithereens, like an egg in a box
0:18:12 > 0:18:15so therefore they took to wearing seatbelts.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20So when they said it's now law. Bang! There was no problem.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24The seatbelt campaign was huge.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It used a famous face...
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Clunk the car door and click the seatbelt.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33..and a punchy slogan to get results.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Belting up has undoubtedly saved our health service millions of pounds
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and has also saved thousands of lives.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- Clunk, click.- Clunk, click, eh? I'll remember that.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58- So, Angela, Clunk, click, every trip. Remember that? - Yes, don't I just?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01In fact, Jimmy Savile was an old friend of mine
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and I know that he was incredibly proud of the fact that
0:19:04 > 0:19:10- that particular campaign had such a dramatic impact on reducing accidents.- Yeah.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13And I think what was the great thing for him
0:19:13 > 0:19:16was that it wasn't just that he was very popular at the time -
0:19:16 > 0:19:20everybody knew him, so he was the perfect face to have for that campaign -
0:19:20 > 0:19:25but he gave real credibility to the argument for clunking, clicking every trip
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and wearing a seatbelt
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- because of the work that he did at Stoke Mandeville. - Yeah, he was very involved.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Yeah, he personal experience there of meeting people
0:19:33 > 0:19:37who had been in car accidents, as well as every other kind of accident,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41who would perhaps have to spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair or whatever.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43He was so proud of having been part of that campaign.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45I bet he was. It was so vivid.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47I don't know if they'd get away with that nowadays
0:19:47 > 0:19:50with the egg inside the box.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Shake the egg up and tip it out. It was very well done.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- It was graphic, but it made the point.- Yeah,
0:19:55 > 0:19:59because you didn't have to at the time, did you?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02As we found out, it was a few years before it was made compulsory.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- It was a long time before it was made compulsory.- Yeah.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I had to empathise with the lady who said,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09"I don't want to wear it because it messes up my clothes."
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Been there, darling.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14I think every woman thinks you don't want it to muck up your collar,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17and if you're wearing something pale or whatever.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21The funny thing is that now, if I get in the car,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23even if I just drive 100 yards,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27- I feel there's something missing if I haven't got the belt on.- Yep.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32I actually do not ever drive without my seatbelt
0:20:32 > 0:20:37- because it just doesn't feel right somehow.- You don't feel dressed. It's weird.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41I remember lots of friends and friends of friends,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45youngsters, really badly damaged in car accidents in those days
0:20:45 > 0:20:49because once it went, that was it. You were bashed and crashed around
0:20:49 > 0:20:52and invariably thrown through the windscreen.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54But that's how important it was and how it caught on.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Suddenly, they realised,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58"You've got to wear you seatbelt - health and safety."
0:20:58 > 0:21:00So it all becomes another bit of the procedure.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- And thank goodness it is, frankly. - Yeah.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Now, an area of medical care that we've all had experience of
0:21:10 > 0:21:13one way or another - having babies.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16The modern maternity unit is stacked with equipment
0:21:16 > 0:21:19that would have been unrecognisable to previous generations.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Heart-rate monitors, pain-relief equipment,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27ultrasound scanning machines, even the occasional father-to-be.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Since the beginning of the 20th century,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35having a baby has gone through huge changes.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43One family who have seen some of the changes is the Howes family.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Great-grandma Lillian, grandma Virginia,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and new mum, Sophie.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Lillian is the start of the story,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57and remembers her own mother's experience in the early 1900s.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Lack of contraception meant big families were the norm.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And, if you wanted a midwife to help at the birth, you'd have to pay.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12My mother had eight children,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and six of those children were born at home.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21They didn't even used to have to have a midwife in her early days.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25My auntie delivered one baby,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30and perhaps a neighbour because they couldn't afford the midwife.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Poor health and a lack of proper medical care
0:22:35 > 0:22:38meant lots of babies and women were dying in childbirth.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44But then, in 1948, maternity care received a massive shake-up.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51On July 5th, the new National Health Service starts,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54providing hospital and specialist services,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56medicines, drugs and appliances,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58care of the teeth and eyes,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00maternity services.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06The new NHS promised women safer childbirth,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09managed by experts few could previously afford.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13For most, that still meant a home birth
0:23:13 > 0:23:17but now a qualified midwife or doctor would attend.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19For midwives like Julia Allison,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22the big issue they had to deal with was hygiene.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27We'd have constant boiling kettles
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and boiling saucepans
0:23:29 > 0:23:32because we sterilised some of the instruments
0:23:32 > 0:23:35that weren't in the sterilised pack by boiling,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38or if we were using them for the second time.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41I can remember going into one house
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and we were looking round for clean cloths.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47We couldn't find any, and she said, "Go into the kitchen,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49"see if you can find a clean tea towel."
0:23:49 > 0:23:53I came back and said, "There's no clean things!" She said, "Find a tablecloth."
0:23:53 > 0:23:56She said, "Give me that Daily Mirror."
0:23:56 > 0:23:58"Give me that Daily Mirror," and it hadn't been opened.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04She said, "The middle pages, if they haven't been touched by hands, are the cleanest thing in this house."
0:24:04 > 0:24:07We delivered the baby into the Daily Mirror, and we did!
0:24:07 > 0:24:09We delivered the baby into the Daily Mirror.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16How's my water getting on, Mrs Anderson?
0:24:16 > 0:24:17Ready as soon as you like, Nurse.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Hygiene and infection control were beginning to improve
0:24:23 > 0:24:26but there was still little in the way of pain relief.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Sometimes the mothers didn't call the midwives out
0:24:29 > 0:24:32until fairly late on though.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Sometimes mothers were very stoic and just got on with it.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37You just encourage them to be calm,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42and, "Just work with me and we'll soon have the baby born."
0:24:43 > 0:24:45But then, in the late '40s, came a big change.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51Pain relief was introduced in the form of a drug called pethidine.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Science repays humanity's debt to mothers.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The introduction of pain relief was a huge step forward.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07In a few short years, childbirth had been transformed.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Medical help for mothers had arrived.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16In the 1950s and the 1960s,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20the availability of medical help continued to grow.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26And so childbirth began to move out of the home into the hospital.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Here, mothers had to observe strict rules and regulations.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35In the old days, the babies were taken away.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39They were washed, cleaned up, hair combed,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42before the mother actually got a proper look at her baby.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48When the babies are born, they're taken to the nursery,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52and you only get them at 10 o'clock at night,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55er, six o'clock in the morning. Every four hours you get them.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And the father certainly wouldn't be made to feel welcome.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Fathers didn't get near the nursery.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08In fact, one hospital had a white line on the floor
0:26:08 > 0:26:13across the threshold of the nursery, across which the fathers didn't pass.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20On the third day, my husband got home, and the staff nurse,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24whoever was in charge, felt sorry for him and let him come in to see me.
0:26:24 > 0:26:30So they pulled the blinds round me, the nurse came round the curtain,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and she said, "Don't tell anybody, this is against the rules."
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And she brought my son, and laid him on the bed
0:26:36 > 0:26:38so my husband and I could both see him together,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41but that was never done.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46In the small hours of the morning at Queen Charlotte's maternity hospital,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Pathe News looked in on a man with more on his mind than just a hangover.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Mister, you're really worried!
0:26:53 > 0:26:54BABY CRIES
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Ah, there you are! The cry of a newly born.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01It was considered of matters underneath the skirts,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05and it was women's work, and nobody else need know about it.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09It's like old-fashioned movies
0:27:09 > 0:27:13where the dad is walking up and down the hospital corridor waiting for the news -
0:27:13 > 0:27:15you have a son, you have a daughter.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18He was a million miles away from the action.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Ha-ha! That's it, chum. You've had it.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29By the end of the 1960s,
0:27:29 > 0:27:3284% of babies were being born in hospital.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36This is the postnatal ward.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37When you've had your baby,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40you come back into bed here from the labour ward.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45But the experience wasn't always a happy one.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50I was told I had to go in to be induced.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54I went in the night before, I was shaved, I was given an enema,
0:27:54 > 0:27:55I was starved.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01The next morning, I was taken down to the labour ward,
0:28:01 > 0:28:06injected with pethidine, which is an opiate - I didn't ask for it -
0:28:06 > 0:28:08and my waters broken, and a drip started.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I was given a compulsory episiotomy, yeah.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Everybody was cut, whether they needed it or not.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And the baby was born, you know, some time later that day.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31At the time, and even up until I trained as a midwife,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33I thought I'd had a great experience,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36and that just shows me
0:28:36 > 0:28:38that you don't know what you're missing
0:28:38 > 0:28:41until an alternative is shown to you.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46So, now I'm a midwife, and now I know how beautiful it can be,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50now I know I had a pretty awful experience for all four of my children.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Virginia's story was typical of thousands of women.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Intervention had become routine.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05A change was needed to make having a baby a more pleasant experience.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09There was a huge pressure, movement as it were,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14to move things into a better place for birth.
0:29:19 > 0:29:2225 years on, Virginia, a midwife herself,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26was able to help her daughter Sophie have a very different experience.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I had him at home. My mum was my midwife.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40It was just amazing.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43The best feeling in the world.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45I feel sorry for women that have,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48like, an impersonal experience in hospital.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53It is a special time for women, and families,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56and I think it should be more of a family affair.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01While not all women may be as lucky as Sophie,
0:30:01 > 0:30:02by the turn of the century,
0:30:02 > 0:30:07maternity care in Britain was again seeing radical changes.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11You know, our maternity services are always being hammered and criticised,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15but, my golly, we've come a long way
0:30:15 > 0:30:18since the days when we delivered into the Daily Mirror!
0:30:21 > 0:30:22LULLABY PLAYS
0:30:22 > 0:30:24BABY GURGLES
0:30:27 > 0:30:32And we have Julia, who's in the Picture Of Health surgery with us.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36- Welcome.- Thank you. - Wonderful, wonderful film, no?
0:30:36 > 0:30:37Yes, absolutely wonderful.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40I absolutely empathise with the midwife
0:30:40 > 0:30:47who now realises that she had four least good experiences.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50One of the things I always say when anybody asks me
0:30:50 > 0:30:54why I had my second child at home, I only have one answer -
0:30:54 > 0:30:59- because I had my first in hospital, and that says it all, I think.- Yes.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02- The whole thing has changed so dramatically, hasn't it?- Yes.
0:31:02 > 0:31:08The fact that fathers now take such an important role in the birth of their children,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12and do you think that's actually made it easier for the women as well,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14knowing the father is there?
0:31:14 > 0:31:18If that's what both of the couples want, it's the natural thing to do.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21What do you think about it yourself, Larry, as a bloke?
0:31:21 > 0:31:27The thing is, my last two, I've got a 12-year-old and an eight-year-old,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29and I thought to myself,
0:31:29 > 0:31:35you know the logical thing to do is invite her mum to come along.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39So Nana came along,
0:31:39 > 0:31:43and she and I assisted in the birth
0:31:43 > 0:31:46and it was quite an extraordinary experience, as we both...
0:31:46 > 0:31:50As she was shouting and screaming, we were looking across her back,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52going, "Oh God, please get on with it!"
0:31:52 > 0:31:55- What a great family occasion! - It was, a real family occasion.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57And it happens a lot now, Larry,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01and there's no judgement about who should be there or who shouldn't be there.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06- If it's at home, they're usually found a job.- Yes. Boil something!
0:32:06 > 0:32:08- Make tea!- Make some tea.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Yes, they don't do all that boiling thing any more, do they?!
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Boil water, boil water, fetch pots!
0:32:14 > 0:32:20No, because usually a lot of the boiling water was for washing the mother and washing the baby
0:32:20 > 0:32:23and it's quite easy now to fetch water from the bathroom, of course.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Were you a home birth, Angela, or were you a hospital birth?
0:32:28 > 0:32:30- I was born in hospital.- Were you?
0:32:30 > 0:32:34Yes, but the only reason I know exactly what time I was born
0:32:34 > 0:32:37is because I was born in 1944,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41and of course Plymouth was subject to a number of air raids and Blitz,
0:32:41 > 0:32:46you know the famous Blitz they had in Plymouth, as they had in Coventry and London,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49and apparently my mother always used to tell me the midwife said to her,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52"We've got to get this baby born before the blackout"
0:32:52 > 0:32:54so I know I was born at ten to six.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59That was so extraordinary, thank you.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Thank you so much for coming and sharing that with us.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Often, we have a brilliant scientific breakthrough
0:33:07 > 0:33:10or a remarkable piece of surgical skill to thank
0:33:10 > 0:33:13for a great advance in healthcare,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15but sometimes it's down to the courage
0:33:15 > 0:33:18and determination of an ordinary man or woman.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25April 1973, and a 20-month-old baby called Simon Bostic had made medical history.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Simon had to be almost literally wrapped in cotton wool.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32He became the first baby in the world
0:33:32 > 0:33:36to receive a bone marrow transplant using cells from a complete stranger.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41Bone marrow transplants had been carried out before,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44but only when there was a match within the family.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47In Simon's case, there was no match.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51They always knew it was an incredibly risky and pioneering procedure,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54so I don't think anybody was under any illusions
0:33:54 > 0:33:57as to the fact that it might not be successful.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01However, thank God that they kind of persevered and did what they did,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and I'm incredibly grateful to the people involved in those days.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09When you look at Simon Bostic today, having a riotous time
0:34:09 > 0:34:12at a children's party, it's hard to believe
0:34:12 > 0:34:16that this is the boy whose life, 18 months ago, hung in the balance.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20Simon owed his life not only to the surgery,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23but to his mother, Elizabeth.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27In 1973, there wasn't a register of bone marrow donors to turn to.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32It was down to Elizabeth to find a donor herself.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34She went to the local press,
0:34:34 > 0:34:35the local television, radio,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39everywhere, and whipped up the enthusiasm of everyone,
0:34:39 > 0:34:44persuaded some doctors, nurses, to take their blood samples,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and the public responded amazingly to that,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and that was the start of the whole bone marrow story.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Elizabeth's campaigning had worked.
0:34:55 > 0:34:56With the help of the press,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00she'd raised awareness and a donor came forward.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Simon was given the transplant that saved his life.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07To this day, the British public are amongst the most giving,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11I think, of all, and this really brings it all home.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15But the fact that all this happened for me is, you know, it's...
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Yeah... It's something else.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27Simon grew stronger every day and the media followed his progress.
0:35:27 > 0:35:28BALLOON POPS
0:35:28 > 0:35:30LAUGHTER
0:35:30 > 0:35:34But Simon's story didn't just hit the UK.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39On the other side of the world, another desperate mother was also reading the news.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46Shirley Nolan's son had a condition called Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51Without a bone marrow transplant, he would die.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Shirley was in Australia, where she'd been living for some years,
0:35:55 > 0:36:00and she just read in the paper about this pioneering transplant.
0:36:00 > 0:36:01She then, being Shirley, decided,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04as the doctors in Australia couldn't do anything for Anthony,
0:36:04 > 0:36:09she'd come over to the UK and find a donor.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12She'd heard of the successful bone marrow transplant
0:36:12 > 0:36:16that saved baby Simon Bostic, but it wasn't until they got here
0:36:16 > 0:36:21that Mrs Nolan found out that the odds against success with Anthony were considerably more.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Anthony's condition had left his immune system extremely weak
0:36:26 > 0:36:29and he was in constant danger.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Any visitor to the house must go through this strange procedure -
0:36:33 > 0:36:36facemasks and covering for the feet must be worn
0:36:36 > 0:36:41just to be absolutely sure. And that includes everybody.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Though Shirley was determined to raise awareness,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50she also had to protect him from infection.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55One is constantly in fear of losing one's only child.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59My mother, myself, and Anthony live in this cottage in total isolation
0:36:59 > 0:37:05to protect Anthony from infection as long as possible
0:37:05 > 0:37:10in the hope that eventually we'll find a donor that can save his life.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16Shirley's fight was twofold.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18As well as saving the life of her own son,
0:37:18 > 0:37:24she set out to save the life of others by establishing the world's first bone marrow register.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27When she was told, "There is no register,"
0:37:27 > 0:37:29she said, "Well, I'll start one."
0:37:29 > 0:37:34So she started off by going to the local pub around the corner from the hospital
0:37:34 > 0:37:36and telling them her son was dying
0:37:36 > 0:37:39and slapping a tin or something on the counter,
0:37:39 > 0:37:41and she started to raise money.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44His mother, acknowledging dejection, tries to keep his spirits up.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49- Anthony's plight soon became major news.- This is Anthony Nolan today.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Newspapers and television followed the story with interest.
0:37:55 > 0:37:56I think it's his spirit,
0:37:56 > 0:38:01its Anthony's tenacity that's kept him going for so long.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07And Shirley even took to the streets to get her message across.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Finally, in 1974, Shirley succeeded in setting up the Anthony Nolan Register,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15the world's first list of bone marrow donors.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18She was an amazing woman. Very forceful.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20If you didn't do what Shirley wanted you to do,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22she'd make sure it happened somehow.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25She was not going to take no for an answer.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33Now everyone was hoping the register would help find a donor for its namesake.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Obviously I'm optimistic.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Chances are very, very good,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and I think and I hope, my mother hopes,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47and I'm sure everybody who knows about the story of Anthony
0:38:47 > 0:38:50will be hoping with us that this is it.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52CHILD BABBLES
0:38:52 > 0:38:53That's better.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Sadly, despite the hope and years of searching,
0:38:59 > 0:39:03no match was ever found for Anthony and he died in 1979.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11In her heart, she always thought it was unlikely
0:39:11 > 0:39:13that she was going to find a donor for Anthony.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24But, even though she'd lost her son,
0:39:24 > 0:39:29Shirley didn't want any mother to experience what she'd gone through.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36When Anthony died, she was determined that it wouldn't end there.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Losing a child, or the threat of losing one,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42I think must be the worst thing that anybody could go through.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45To have that, yet still be driven and determined,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47I think is fairly amazing.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54Since the 1980s, the Anthony Nolan Register has continued to grow,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59and other bone marrow registers have followed across the world.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03She has saved thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06by starting the Anthony Nolan charity in 1974.
0:40:09 > 0:40:14And it's truly remarkable that all this began with one very sick boy back in the early 1970s.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20The fact that I had anything to do with any of that starting
0:40:20 > 0:40:26is a great thing, and I'm glad that my story,
0:40:26 > 0:40:31and the story of my family, um... have been able to, in some way,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34inspire this amazing achievement.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39But the achievement itself is down to Shirley Nolan, primarily.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Angela, what an extraordinary legacy.
0:40:47 > 0:40:53It is, isn't it, and I'm sure that Mr Bostic, a grown man now,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57how proud he must feel that it was actually his story
0:40:57 > 0:41:03that gave that enthusiasm and that impetus to Anthony Nolan's mother
0:41:03 > 0:41:07to come over to Britain and try and find again an unrelated donor
0:41:07 > 0:41:10to save her son, and as we know, sadly that didn't happen.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13She still had that great drive,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16which meant she set up the Anthony Nolan Trust.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I looked on their website before I came on the programme,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23and they've now got more than half a million people that are on that site
0:41:23 > 0:41:27prepared to give their bone marrow to those people who need it.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31- Just terrific.- Yes. Thank you. - My pleasure.- Thanks, Angela.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33I've enjoyed being on the programme,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and I think you have some fascinating programmes and fascinating films.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39A real journey.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42- Thank you.- My pleasure.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52You can find out more about how healthcare has changed from an Open University expert.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Go to...
0:41:55 > 0:41:57and follow the links.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Coming up tomorrow,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13the story behind the antibiotic that saved millions of lives.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16What could your feelings be? Job well done.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22How our love of cigarettes went up in smoke.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26It was part of the culture, it was part of the ethos then.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30And we remember the time that matron ruled the roost.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33This battleship of healthcare swanning through the ward.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Far more frightening than a consultant or the doctor.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42And that's all from A Picture Of Health for today. Goodbye.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd