“She could pay out of pocket for most basic medical treatments”
The only “medical treatments” we got were home remedies and over the counter medicines. None of us ever had a “pediatrician”. Mothers learned from their mothers and from their friends - experiences of what “worked” and didn’t work. They were the “doctors”.
“Mothers learned from their mothers and from their friends - experiences of what worked and didn’t work. They were the doctors.”
When we got a cut or a scrape, my parents would use ‘Grandma’s Goose Grease’ on us. Yes, it was just a topical antiseptic salve, but we kids really though it WAS goose grease until we were older. ;)
I never needed stitches, but Dad did - Grandpa gave him some whiskey and sewed him up himself.