Govanhill's Royal Samaritan Hospital for Women and its stories

They experienced the joyous event of giving birth to healthy children and they experienced trauma too.

A new archive collection, the Women’s Heritage Archive of The Samaritans Hospital (WHASH) is seeking to catalogue their stories.

It is being compiled by screenwriter Paul Cooke, who called for stories while writing his play about the hospital, A Dose of Blushes.

Here are a selection, from the heartbreaking to the hilarious.

PAULA DOCHERTY

"This is my memory of the Samaritans.

"My mother said to me, 'I will get you at Dr Jackson's at Castlemilk shops at 5pm.' I says, 'What for?' 'Just be there,' she said.

"[At the appointment] The doctor said to her, 'What can I do for you Mrs Docherty?'

"She replied, 'It’s her, she’s pregnant and we need to get rid of it.'

"I was in silence. 'Get her to pee on the stick to confirm the pregnancy,' the doctor replied.

"But my mum said, 'Oh she’s pregnant alright, slept with one of the neighbours. We need to get rid of it.'"

Paula was only 15 and said she didn't know what "being pregnant" meant.

Her mum had told her boyfriend's mum that she was expecting and he broke off the relationship.

The next thing Paula remembers is: "The day arrives and we’re on the number 5 bus from Tormusk Terminus to Larkfield Garage. It was a long walk of silence.

"In the waiting room mother talked to a woman in a blue dress. There was more silence.

"Then my mother told me 'That’s me away.'

"The nurse turned to me and said, 'What have you been up to then?'

"I looked out the window of the ward to see my mother walk up Butterbiggins Road. She never looked back.

"I was taken to a side room. They were not nice nurses. They shaved me and stuck tubes in me. I was in a lot of pain. It got worse all day.

"I was given a flowery housecoat by some woman. I was in pain, crying all night long, nurses in and out, telling me to do this and do that.

"Ten minutes later the nurse came in. She said, 'That’s your dead son down the sluice.'

"The ward was for births and miscarriages. Then there was me who got rid of hers.

"I hoped my mother would come back. She didn’t. She left my bus fare with the nurse."

Three years later Paula was pregnant again and, again, her mother wanted her to have an abortion.

She added: "I said, no, not again. But 40 years later it is still raw."

READ MORE: The history of the Samaritans

NANCY YOUNG

“I spent six weeks in there in 1982 during my twin pregnancy in an empty ward all alone and feeling sick and miserable.

"Some sort of strike or dispute was on.

"I think I was the only patient. I remember Channel 4 started during my stay. I watched it on my todd."

MOIRA BRIGGS, IPSWICH

“I was never a patient, but I did attend on three occasions during the 1960s. I used to attend New Cathcart Church on Newlands Road.

"It was a tradition, in fact almost a right of passage, that once you were 13 years old and a member of the Girls Bible Class that on Christmas Day you visited the Hospital.

"The Minister, Sam Aitkenhead - he later became the Moderator of The Church of Scotland - or one of the Elders, would collect us just before 6am and take us to the hospital.

"We then walked through the wards accompanied by a senior nurse singing carols. And Sam always left a box of chocolates on each ward for the nurses.

"I remember that the nurse walked ahead wearing a dark cloak and carrying a lantern. The ward was still in darkness.

"The ward doors were opened and we sang the first verse outside each ward before going in and walking to the far end singing the rest.

"A second carol was sung and then we moved on to the next ward. We were followed by the early morning tea trolley, which I think the patients appreciated more than our singing.

"We were treated to tea and toast and a thank you from the Matron before we went home.”

MARY HIGGINS, 48, GORBALS

“My wee mammy was in there for a hysterectomy in 1983, I think it was. I was frightened and scared.

"She had a heart attack on the operating table. But I remember all the women, laughing. And the humour was not for a wean’s ears.

"But I suppose you had to laugh, and cry. I remember the staff were great.”

JOAN MAXWELL, NEW JERSEY, USA

“I left Glasgow in 1976. I’d spent a few weeks in that hospital, very ill but will never forget the care I was given.

"I went on to have two healthy babies and know that it was down to The Samaritans they are alive.

"You don’t get that kind of care here.”

READ MORE: The history of the Samaritans

MARIE BANNATYNE, 71, MERRYLEE

"I was in there in 1968/1969. I had suffered several miscarriages and I was taken in early. I’d heard bad things about The Samaritans.

"I’d passed it many times going to my pal's house, who lived close by. I thought it looked like a workhouse.

"My mammy came with me. It turned out one of her neighbour’s aunts was a nurse there.

"My mammy was annoyed because she didn’t like the neighbour and the neighbour was forever asking about me.

"My mammy didn’t like her knowing our business, but the aunt did look after me. I was in for eight months in that ward and was bed ridden for another four.

"I don’t care about whether my mammy liked the neighbour or not.

"My daughter is here because of that auntie."

CATHY MARTIN, 64, TORYGLEN

"I was there in 1977. I was bleeding bad. I was annoyed because we had booked the caravan for the fair down at Ardrossan.

"My man took the weans away. I remember the hospital was roasting, sun splitting the sky.

"One of the staff, Wee Agnes her name was, got all the women outside in the courtyard. And we all sat there and got a tan.

"I’ll never forget the look on the ward sister’s face when she started her shift that night. We were all sunburnt. What a laugh.

"She gave us what’s for, but it was like a wee holiday that day."

LILY, A FORMER AUXILIARY

"Me and my pal Jan worked there as auxiliaries. I left 1982. It was a great place. The Matron was firm but fair.

"The banter was always great, even though there was a lot of tears. I’ll never forget the baked tattie.

"Wee Mary, her name was. She had to walk with a stick, she was in that much pain and had been in and out of the place for four years.

"You get to know the women if they have been in for a while.

"One night, Jan says Wee Mary wasn’t right, she hadn’t touched her food all day. I went in and asked her what was up and she says she didn’t like mince. In Glasgow?

"I asked her what she would like and she said she had been to the new place up Sauchiehall Street, Spudulike. She loved their baked tatties. Said it was like an orgasm in her mouth.

"I told Jan and she grabbed her coat. She lived around the corner on Ardbeg Street, and I covered for her. She came back an hour and a half later with a baked tattie.

"Mary was over the moon. She died the next day, never made her operation.

"I’ve never forgotten her. Anytime I see a baked tattie, I think of her."

JIM CAMPBELL, 74, EAST KILBRIDE

"My wife Nancy was in there twice. She’s no longer with us.

"She used to take the women's orders for their takeaways on a Saturday night and get me to bring them in. The money was always short.

"The nurses turned a blind eye. All the men would be in the pub after visiting hours. But we never talked to each other on the ward.

"We didn’t want them knowing we were in the pub. Am sure they knew anyway."

CAROL MCLAUGHLIN, 58, CLARKSTON

"We had a school reunion in 2001. I went to Holyrood.

"It had been 25 years and it was so good to see all my old school pals.

"'Todd', as we called her, had everyone in shock, she hadn’t aged, she looked great. We were all jealous. She said it was because she had no children.

"She had been in and out of The Samaritan with miscarriages. But then one by one, each of the girls said they had been in there.

"I think there must have been eight or nine of them had all been in and we didn’t know. Including myself. We had more in common than we thought."

On Monday, August 20, there will be the chance to hear the stories of the Samaritan and share your own experiences of this local institution.

This event takes place in Samaritan House, part of the original hospital complex.

For more information, contact Dave Zabiega on 0141 636 3665 or dzabiega@govanhillha.org