Club 81 may have been born in the year of the controversial Springbok tour, but its members were not likely to be talking about rugby.
They had more pressing issues to discuss, including breast feeding, dirty nappies and whether their babies were sleeping through the night.
The club members, who celebrated their 30 years together at Luna restaurant in Dunedin this week, met at Dunedin Parents Centre antenatal classes when most were having their first babies.
Not all 30 members of the original classes have kept in touch, but about six of the mothers have met monthly since 1981. Others attend when they can.
Irene Valentine flew from Brisbane to attend the 30th celebrations.
One of the group, Helen Thomson, said the group was a diverse one with women whose paths might not have crossed if it were not for the antenatal class.
When their children were young, they met in each other's houses, graduating to a regular meal out as the children got older.
As their children grew up, group members had been a great support to each other over "all sorts of things", not just their children.
They had shared both successes and those times when people were having difficulties and had been "pretty honest and open" about their lives.
In earlier days, husbands and children were "forced" to go to an annual barbecue, something the teenagers did not always appreciate.
However, club member Christine Messer said at such an occasion when the Club 81 children were 18, the teenagers went out afterwards and "had a ball".
Now, when the women meet, they have a quick catch-up on the goings-on of their Club 81 "babies" and their offspring (almost five at last count), but move on to "talk about anything", Mrs Thomson said.
