Black Out Babies

Alice Harders Sorensen gave birth to her first child, Michael, on September 10, 1943. Her husband, Captain Christian Sorensen was on the Howland and Baker Islands, her mother was stranded in Wisconsin, and her father efficiently dropped her off at St. Louis Hospital and her first meal as a new mother was pigs’ feet.

During the war St. Louis College (the current St. Louis High School) was leased by the Army and used as a medical facility to treat military family members. Alice Sorensen was one of the many women who gave birth there. Alice told me, “Almost everyone called it St. Louis Hospital. It’s hard to imagine, but Tripler Hospital, as we know it, had not been built then and the hospital at Pearl Harbor was used for war casualties.

“During the early years of the war, all Oahu hospitals were crowded. As a military wife, I was required to go to St. Louis to have my baby. Half of the second floor of one of the buildings was designated for pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, with one large ward for new mothers. I remember there were twenty of us in the room—ten beds on each side of the room. Each bed had curtains around it for privacy.

“When Mike was born, on September 10, 1943, my mother was on the mainland and Chris was on Howland and Baker Islands. When I went into labor, my father drove me to the hospital and dropped me off with a cheery, ‘Everything will be just fine. I’ll see you later’ and he left. Men didn’t get involved with births in those days. Thankfully, my cousin’s wife Margaret stayed with me for most of my labor.

“Mother had been stranded on the mainland since May of 1943 when she had gone to Wisconsin to celebrate her parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. She thought she could just pop back to Hawaii after her visit. But she couldn’t book passage home." (Ships were still transporting troops as a priority at that time and Alice’s mother didn’t return until April 1944.)

“After twenty-eight hours of being in labor, I remember the doctors ‘putting me to sleep’ to have the baby. When I woke up I was in the ward. I was all alone with no news about my baby. I had no idea if it was a girl, boy, or if ‘it’ was healthy, how much ‘it’ weighed or what ‘it’ looked like.

“I asked a few nurses about my baby, but giving me information didn’t seem to be a priority. They had just completed a shift change and none of the new nurses knew about my baby. I often wondered if the doctors and nurses on the ward were disappointed that they were not out on the front lines with the soldiers.

“Finally, one nurse took pity on me and found out that I had a healthy son, but I still had to wait until the scheduled feeding time before I saw him. When they brought him to me, he had his hair curled in a kewpie-doll twist on the top of his head. I unfolded his blanket to get a look at him. He had all his fingers and toes.

“I was looking forward to a good meal the night Mike was born. I hadn’t eaten in almost two days, but when the meal came it was pigs’ feet and potato salad. That wasn’t my idea of a celebration meal. I had never eaten pigs’ feet before and I wasn’t going to start the day I gave birth—I still haven’t tried it and I doubt I ever will.

“The good thing about having a baby in the 1940’s is that you stayed in the hospital a respectable ten days to recover from childbirth. A few days after I got home, Chris returned to Hawaii from Howland & Baker Islands. He was home for seven months, and then he left for Tarawa, Saipan, Makin Atoll, the Marianas, and the Gilbert Islands.”
(Howland and Baker Islands are approximately 1,600 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. Howland is a low, flat, sand and coral island about 400 acres. Baker Island is less than one acre. [As a point of interest, the last communication received from Amelia Earhart was on July 2, 1937, just 100 miles west of Howland Island.]

In 1942, American civilian workers were evacuated from Howland and Baker after Japanese aircraft and submarines bombed the islands in the mistaken belief that there was an American seaplane base there. During the war, the U.S. occupied both islands but abandoned them after the war. Currently, public entry to the islands is issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by special-use permits only that are generally restricted to scientists and educators.)

Before the war broke out, the medical community was preparing for a great number of premature births to occur. They anticipated the stress of war would cause women to go into premature labor or miscarriage and developed a disaster plan that called for all public health nurses to be given a refresher course on home delivery techniques. The nurses were divided into teams and each team was equipped with an infant incubator, oxygen and instruments to treat newborns before they reached the hospital.

The obstetricians and obstetric nurses on duty in hospitals were ordered to remain in their wards regardless of what war burden rest of the hospital might be experiencing.

But the surge of premature births never occurred. According to Dr. O. Lee Shattenburg, “There was a slight flurry the first day or two, but the incidence was hardly above normal.”

Seven babies were born within twenty-four hours of the attack. Queens Hospital records show, "a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Roy McGregor Squires, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Young Kee Han." Japanese Hospital (Kuakini Hospital) reported, "a daughter was born to Kyoto Hamamoto." Two babies were born at Kapiolani Hospital, but at first no names were listed in the newspapers.

On December 10, 1941 it was reported by the newspapers that the only baby born during the attack was a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kanoro Rodgriques at 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941 (I could not find out in which hospital the baby was born). However, later in the week, the newspapers reported that a daughter was born to Mrs. And Mrs. Albert Hoog on the morning of December 7, 1941 at Kapiolani Hospital.

Once the war broke out, Doctor Thomas M. Mossman, Chairman of the Medical Board, requested and stressed that all expectant mothers must keep in constant touch with their obstetricians during the day. And if they were to go into labor at night, they should go the nearest hospital because of the logistical difficulties in caring for maternity cases in private homes.

Japanese women who were under the care of Japanese women midwives had a particular burden. In 1941, of the 36 midwives in Honolulu, 30 were aliens and therefore could not secure permission to be on the streets at night. If their patients were in labor after dark, they were to go to the nearest hospital and be delivered by the staff obstetrician.

After the Battle of Midway (June 1942) some of the restrictions on night travel were eased, but women were still expected to go to the hospitals to deliver, and assume home births were not possible.

The most comprehensive report of “black out babies” is an article by Dr. O. Lee Shattenburg “Obstetrics During Major Disaster,” January 1942, Honolulu Medical Journal. Other sources for this column include a second article in the January Hawaii Medical Journal. The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star Bulletin for the week of December 7-14, 1941, and an with Alice Sorensen.

Sources: Photo of Sorensen Family, author's collection; map U.S. Department of Energy.