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Mr and Mrs T are a young, attractive couple in their mid-twenties. They were both born in London and have settled down to live in close proximity to their respective families. Mrs T, in particular, has a close, supportive and mutually dependent relationship with her mother and two sisters. Mr T is an insurance salesman with a large company and has recently been promoted. Mrs T is a manicurist. She stopped working in the West End with the birth of her first child, but continues to do occasional manicures locally for the extra income.
When I met them, the Ts lived in a minute council flat, but have since been rehoused in larger and more pleasant accommodation.
On one occasion Mrs T confided that there had been a few hiccups early in the marriage, but I know little about their relationship now. Occasionally I have picked up hints of strain, but Mrs T is reticent on this subject. I have had no occasion to observe Mr T and his daughter.
Rachel was Mr and Mrs T's first baby. It was a planned pregnancy and apparently uneventful. At the age of one month, following a few days of fretfulness and various cold-like symptoms (which were wrongly diagnosed), Rachel was rushed to hospital as an emergency. She was found to have viral meningitis and died the next day. Mrs T, according to her doctor, was very depressed for a long time following the baby's death.
In between the first and second births, Mrs T suffered a miscarriage. Anne was born 3 years after Rachel's birth.
Mrs T was under close medical supervision during her third pregnancy. Anne was induced ten days before the estimated date of delivery and was immediately put on antibiotics, which were continued for three months. Mother and baby were kept in hospital for eight days, and tests were repeated. Mrs T feels that the hospital was not very careful in their handling of her and the baby (e.g. they lost the first test