Deadly danger of birth for the poor in 1930s

I was born in 1937, 11 years before the NHS, so I know the difference it has made.

It was difficult for ordinary people. In the depression my dad couldn’t get work and my mum was pregnant with me. They couldn’t afford another mouth to feed.

Even worse, when she was nine months pregnant she fell down some steps. She miscarried and lost my twin.

When I was born my mother was weak from hunger and weighed just six and a half stones, barely fit to give birth. We couldn’t afford hospital – the doctor who came had to be paid.

While giving birth my mother was haemorrhaging.

The doctor dumped me aside as they fought to save her life. They did. I was turning blue by the time my Auntie Amelia wrapped me in a blanket to save my life.

The NHS is something we should all be grateful for.

■ Pete Perry, 81, Stevenage, Herts