IN BABYLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 232, 1 October 1928, Page 9

IN BABYLAND.

KARITANE ACHIEVEMENTS.

VISITORS AT MOUNT ALBERT.

CHILD LIFE A VALUABLE ASSET

Babies to the value of £10,000! Who would credit it ? And yet if what some- • body has said is true, and the worth of i an infant to -the State is at least £500. 4 the score of wee mites which are now crooning or making known their wants in the Karitane Hospital at Mount | Albert must on a financial basis alone i be worth the sum suggested above. '• Add to this the value of the scores of ' infants which are dealt with each day by the Plunket nurses at the maternity clinic in Symonds Street, as well as in | private homes, and some idea may be , gained of the exceedingly valuable work , which is being done for the conservation of child life both in Auckland and in all ' parts of the Dominion. A visit to the Karitane Hospital is of interest at any time, and if the call be made on a bright day in springtime, when the sunshine is bathing the beautiful grounds at the former home of Mr and Mrs. A. C. Caughey, the visitor feels that babes and birds and flowers somehow fit rather wonderfully into the scheme of things. Everywhere are signs of new life and sounds of lusty song. As the poet has sung of children: They are better than all the poems, That ever -were sung or said; For these are the living poems. And all the rest are dead. Personal Touch in Nursing. To the uninitiated all babes look alike, but for the guidance of such casual people as visitors (or may it be for the nurses as well?) there is attached to each bassinet a card which is tied with a bow of pale blue ribbon, giving the name of the occupant, the date of its birth, the time of admission and such other information as may be useful. A good deal depends upon the time of | a visit as to whether most of the bas- ! sinets are empty or full. There are times for sleeping, feeding, bathing. - weighing and other operations which infants have to undergo.. One had almost

been tempted to mention "nocturnal promenading," but the nurses declare that Karitane babies are much better trained than children which demand attention such as that. At certain hours in fine weather the tiny patients and their attendants may be seen in the spacious garden, for an abundance of fresh air is part of the hospital regime. The capacity of the Karitane Hospital is equal to the treatment of 20 babies and four mothers at the one time. A detached building known as the "mothers' cottage" serves for the adult patients, and a very pleasant home it is. There are four bedrooms, splendidly ventilated, a comfortable sitting room and complete equipment for the handling of the babies of those particular mothers. At night the infants sleep in the hospital wards of the main building, aud thus enable the mothers to secure better rest. This treatment of tired mothers and the instruction they receive in the care of their babies are regarded as most important phases of the hospital work.

Baths and "Kicking Pen." ( In the hospital proper is a ward for i babies which have arrived sooner than expected, and here the temperature is 1 regulated by artificial means. More 1 advanced patients have separate ' quarters. Everywhere are bassinets with their snow-white linen and neat little j cards with a wide variety of names—a ; Joe and a Joyce, a Colin and a Colleen, a Pat and a Patricia and so fourth. Each babe has a nurse for its very own, and each nurse declares that her particular charge is the ■ pet of the hospital. So much for the personal element in nursing! A wonderful institution is the "kicking pen," a large enclosure in which babies waxing strong are allowed to kick, crawl or frolic to their hearts' desire. It is a moot point as to whether this is the star turn of the hospital or whether the honours go to the performance in which the daily bath and the weighing machine are concerned. Much depends upon the mood of the patients. In the treatment of infants the provision of the right kind of nourishment is, of course, the principal key to success, and so an interesting part of the hospital is the spotless department in which the food is prepared. Milk is treated as only experts know how to treat it, and each morning a row of bottles is prepared for each child. If a patient is to be fed four times in the day there are four bottles with the i name of that patient, if five times there are five bottles. In the cases of the more hardy patients the bottles are well filled, but for those who are frail smaller quantities are prepared. This food is ' supplemented by emulsion; specially pre- . pared, and which the babies relish, i The babies which go to the Karitane , Hospital are those in need of particular

attention. They are the sick ones. Imagine an infant weighing only 2£lb! One such was admitted quite recently, and it was nursed into health until it had attained to three times that weight. The babies are always kept until they are normal weight and each is gaining its ounce a day. No infant is ever sent out of hospital to make room for another coming in. The treatment is essentially thorough. One of the functions of the Karitane Hospital is to serve as a training centre for nurses. The hospital at Mount Albert is for the training of Karitane nurses only. Plunket nurses go to Dunedin for a more intensive course. From a casual visit to the hospital one would judge that the nurses are thoroughly in love with their work, and they appreciate nothing more than the deep appreciation which the mothers show for their work in bringing strength out of frailty and giving to the babies a fair start in the race of life. Frequently -in after times mothers visit the hospital to display proudly the progress which their children have made in acquiring health and happiness. There are 18 nurses at the Karitane Hospital. Their training is supervised by Matron McLean, who in the war years was in charge of the New Zealand Military Hospital at Brockenhurst. The happiness of the matron and her staff suggests that there is no work to compare , with the nurturing of child life.