75 babies attend Black Country Museum for centre opening
A replica of the Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre was unveiled
75 babies born in the Black Country gathered at the Museum in Dudley to celebrate the official opening of the Call the Midwife-esque Infant Welfare Centre that will catapult visitors back to to the swinging 60’s.
The 75 babies signify 75 years of both the NHS and the Windrush generation, both stories that will be told through the new development.
This includes Jamaican Midwife Cicilyn Synclair who is based on the real oral histories of those who migrated to the Black Country to make it their home.
The building itself is a replica of Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre - a real building in Wolverhampton that is still used today.
Visitors will be able to explore the main hall, dispensary and doctor’s office to experience the sights and sounds of the growing National Health Service.
The wider storytelling will also explore key historical milestones like the introduction of the contraceptive pill, the lasting impacts of the Thalidomide scandal and the introduction of vaccinations for conditions like polio and tetanus.
Nadia, a researcher at the museum, said: "It's a celebration of our fabulous NHS, it's a celebration of the community spirit, that you got in that period, where all these mothers would come together with midwives and health visitors and share knowledge and experiences."
The development follows the successful opening of the museum's fully functioning 1940’s-1960’s high street in July, part of the wider Forging Ahead project - a development that has catapulted BCLM into living memory and aims to tell the story of the region at a time of huge cultural diversification.