The analyses of a text #1

Now the protagonist Philip is an obstetric clerk
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At the beginning of the last week in August Philip entered upon his duties in the `district.' They were arduous, for he had to attend on an average three confinements a day. The patient had obtained a `card' from the hospital some time before; and when her time came it was taken to the porter by a messenger, generally a little girl, who was then sent across the road to the house in which Philip lodged. At night the porter, who had a latch-key, himself came over and awoke Philip. It was mysterious then to get up in the darkness and walk through the deserted streets of the South Side. At those hours it was generally the husband who brought the card. If there had been a number of babies before he took it for the most part with surly indifference, but if newly married he was nervous and then sometimes strove to allay his anxiety by getting drunk.
[Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham]
1. I'd like to know what "at those hours" means.
2. And I'd like to know if the blue clause means "if there had been a number of babies before him," or "if his wife had many births before."
Thank you in advance for your help.