About Vlkolínec

Just like everywhere else, birth of a child was the happiest event in the life of a family in Vlkolínec too.

Life in Vlkolínec was difficult and filled with work. Women had to take care of the home, the children, they had to cook, wash laundry, hoe the field and the garden, carry water and do many other tasks. They had to work during pregnancy as well. Women used to work until the first labour pains. There was solidarity in families and women got help from their sisters, sisters in law, mothers or mothers in law.

Vlkolínec also had a midwife. The midwife used to give advice to pregnant women and calculate their due dates. Women didn’t give birth in a hospital, like today, but at home in their beds. In addition to the midwife, there were usually also a few other women from the family present at the delivery. If there were complications during delivery and the woman was in a bad condition, they took her to the doctor in the town on a carriage.

During the childbirth and after, the father and the grandmothers had to take the woman’s place in taking care of the household and the children, sometimes they were also helped by the woman’s sisters or sisters in law.