Going to Hospital with Mother1

Film by James Robertson, 1958

Mr. Robertson's first film 'A Two-Year-Old Goes to Hospital' (1953)2 has gone round the world. One seldom meets a nurse or a social worker who has not had an opportunity to see it, and its influence has been very great. There is now a second film, 'Going to Hospital with Mother.'

This second film convincingly portrays a sequence of events and gives no impression whatever of being contrived. It is indeed a true photograph of living, not of acting, a photograph of an event in a small child's life. This event was one that could easily have been traumatic, but it was not productive of ill effect because of the acceptance of the mother as someone who ought to be present.

As in the first film, the operation on the child was not in itself a serious one. But those of us who are in touch with children's hospitals know only too well that small children are hurt by separation from their mothers and their homes, and especially so at the time when they are to go through an unusual experience. The main thesis, which is now closely associated with the name of John Bowlby, is painfully true, and for most of us needs no proof. In this second film a simple positive statement has been made which should have immense practical value.

Sally, aged 20 months, is first shown playing near her own home and in a variety of situations with her sister and with her father and mother. Sally's mother is an ordinary working-class girl, who has not studied psychology and who is just like the other people round her. It is a real triumph for Mr. Robertson that he managed to film this mother's performance of a difficult task without turning her into an actress. It is all quite natural and convincing. The mother shows her anxieties and her hopes and her fears. It becomes quite clear how she is able to anticipate her child's needs and quietly remain a reassuring person even when she is worried. The result is not devoid of beauty, because it rings true. Particularly