Three Children ‘ldeal Indian Family’

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31119, 23 July 1966, Page 2

Three Children ‘ldeal Indian Family’

Three children, including at least one son, is the ideal number for an Indian family in Miss Reba Mitra’s opinion, and because of her work in family planning many Indian women now agree with her.

“With smaller families there will be more food, better health and accommodation, and time for outside interests and work. We tell women, and their husbands, this, and now they are eager to use contraceptives,” Miss Metra said in Christchurch yesterday. The first of two Red Crosstrained nurses to come to New Zealand for post-gradu-ate study on a scholarship granted by the New Zealand society, Miss Metra is senior nurse in charge of a maternity and child welfare hospital in Diamond Harbour, Calcutta. “Indian families always want sons to inherit their property and carry on the name,” she said. All contraceptives provided

by the hospital, which is run by the Indian Red Cross Society, are free. A family planning clinic is attached to the hospital, and Miss Metra’s duties include visiting homes and clinics in her densely populated area.

food, usually powdered milk, was particularly necessary for babies and small children. Education is the cure for many ills, and Miss Metra hopes that as more women gain higher education her constant vigilance, and that of many district nurses and doctors, will not be so essential. “I visit each home in the hospital’s district, which has a population of 35,000, regularly. I give some nursing care, and recommend visits to the doctor if medical attention is needed,” Miss Metra explained. While in New Zealand Miss Metra will study training in the theatre at Timaru Hospital for six months. “I know my experience here will be very valuable, and I hope to apply what I have learnt to my work at home,” she said.