SAVE THE BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3009, 21 February 1917, Page 3

SAVE THE BABIES

CONFERENCE OF PLTJNKET SOCIETY

ADDRESS BY DR. TRIM KING

The annual conference of the Royal £few Zealand Society for the Health of [Women and Children, better known as - the Plunket Society, was opened yes- . terday. were present from all branches in New Zealand. The president (Mrs. Algar Williams) was in . the chair. , The president, in her introductory remarks, said that the functions of the society were much more important in these days of war than ever before. It was of greater urgency-now" that the babies should be saved than perhaps it had appeared to be in days of peace. . The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. • Luke) was invited to declare the con- ' ference open. Mr. Luke's first remark ■was one of congratulation for Lady 'Align, who, was present, as a delegate, and his offer of felicitation was endorsed by the cordial applause of the. . meeting.' He went on to speak of the - .very great importance of the objects lof the Society, and declared that the

low infant mortality rate in New' Zealand was duein very great part to the work of the society, and to the efforts of Djr. Truby King. (Applause.) In these efforts he believed that Dr. Truby King was very heartily supported by the members of the medical profession. Ho regretted to have to confess that the infant death-rate in Wellington was higher than in the other large centres, and it must be the duty of the authorities to try to reme"cTy this. I£ had been said that one of the causes was an unsatisfactory milk . supply. This he was not prepared to discuss, but it was a' fact that there were special difficulties about 'the securing of a 'good milk supply for Wellington City, difficulties which did not exist in other centres. The first essential, in his opinion, was the establishment of a clearing-house, in which milk could be examined before distribution. It was not an. easy matter to secure this, but he was resolved that he would do his best to ensure that the first expenditure of the City would be for the establishment of a depot in which examination could be made of the milk as it came from the farmer. A vote of thanks was accorded to the Mayor for his address. The president announced that she had received apologies from His Excellency the Governor'and the Countess of Liverpool, and from the Hon. G. W. Russell (Minister of Public Health).

• Dr. Truby King's Remarks. ' j Dr. Truby King delivered an address 1 to the delegates. He referred first to 1 the Mayor's remarks, about infant'mor- ' tality in Wellington; and the faulty milk supply of the City. He said that ; in no centre in New Zealand was the ' Plunket Nurses' work carried on with ' more enthusiasm arid devotion than in ! Wellington. The milk supply was a very important matter in any commun- ' ity, and he agreed that in Wellington, 1 as in other centres of population in • other parts of the world, the task of | reforming the milk supply methods was likely to prove one of no small diffi--1 culty. Past Achievement. "Almost ten years have passed since ' .the. founding of the Plunket Society," v he said, "and the natural question to ' ask ourselves is:; What. sort of pro- . gress has been made in the first de- ' oade of our.existence? It' must, bo borne in mind that when the society was started there was no precedent to , go on. The project was" an entirely . new one and was purely a pioneering venture. At first, as you all know, , the movement not .only met with scant sympathy, but vou had ,to contend , against much ridicule and active oppo- ' sition. Now, all this is changed, and : the risk .is rather that you should.be killed by success. • This great meeting of delegates, coming together from all parts of the North and South,lslands,. shows_ that the society has its roots. I deep in the soil of New Zealand, and that its branches cover .the whole counI try. Indeed the progress made in the short'space _of ten years has been bevond the wildest dreams of any of us. Equally clear is the evidence as to the spread and influence of the seed. vou. have sown which comes to us from all parts of the world. Appreciation Abroad. ■ .'"Year by year the task of Mr. Jenkins, the society's indefatigable foreign correspondent, grows more and more arduous and extensive. Throughout tho United States and Canada the keenest interest, is-'manifested in what' vou are doing, in what you are teaching and how, in what effect your mission is having on the mothers and children of the Dominion, and prospectively on the national health and efficiency of the race. Three years ago the Central Government Bureau at Washington issued this pamplet of 18 closely printed -pages tellinc everything essential as to the origin and nature of the Plunket Society,- printing in extenso its aims, objects and rules, and showing the methods and practical results of its work; while the high rate of infant mortality throughout the United States ,was contrasted with the low rate m New Zealand,' the, American rate averaging three times as .high as ours. Amerioan Authorities' Verdiot. _ "The conclusions arrived at by the American authorities as to the ; merits and features of the Plunket Society's work deemed specially! worthy of.adoption throughout the United States were summarised in their bulletin as follows:— . i •'(1) Tho recognition that not only in cities but in country districts provision should be made for instructing mothers in the care of babies; for teaching young girls practical homemaking, including baby hygiene and feeding; for giving proper hospital care to sick babies, andi for maintaining conferences for mothers. '(2) Recognition of the need of cooperation between volunteer and public health authorities in reducing - infant mortality. '(3) Recognition of the value of organising supervision of infant welfare work;_ the employment of nurses whose sorvices are chiefly* educational, and the publication of pamphlets and other literature on hygiene and the care of babies and children, containing advice vouched for by the best medical authorities and expressed ■in direct, simple language.' . ."This frank appreciation' of the society's work was in keeping with tho generous recognition. accorded by tho American physicians who attended the great London Infant Welfare Congress — y" —

held the previous year, the congress which I had the privilege of attending as representative for the Dominion. ! "The same spirit was reflected inoro recently in- a letter sent by' tho New Zealand Commissioner at tho Panama Exhibition. In this letter the Commissioner asked to havo as much literature sent to him as possible, bearing on tho society's work, becauso ho foirul it so well known and highly appreciated in America, and because thero was so great a demand for tho fullest and latest information." English Endorsement. As regards England, nothing could be 'inoro gratifyingy than tho interest taken in the Now Zealand work at the Infant Welfare Congress to which I havo already referred; but I think you will be more.interested in the following references mado to the Plunket Society at tho great Victoria League Imperial Health Congress held in May, 1914, just before the war. One of tho leading spirits of that congress was Mr. Benjamin Bro'adbent, who represented the National Association for the Prevention of Infantile Mortality, and whoso name is a household word in England for everything- bearing on the care of mother and child. "He said: "It is necessary to the national care of maternity is rather a now idea, and it will have to be worked out on new lines. . . . One of the King's Dominions across the seas, New Zealand, has indeed established within its own limits a Society for the Health of Women and Children, which is. now coextensive with' the Dominion;. its scope is national, and it has the direct support of the Government, and should havo the closest attention and study in the working out of a national system in Great Britain. The New Zealand scheme is manifestly suited to the Dominion: the unification of State and voluntary effort appears to be complete: it is not co-operation merely,.it is identity: the society-has ihe management of the whole work, and the State sunports it both financially and morally. Tho society highly appreciates the in-, creasintt support and encouragement which has been accorded to its work

bv the Government, and in this connection it has been specially indented to the present Minister of Pnhlic Health, the Hon. Mr. Russell, whose proposals for further extension of the work will come before the conference to-morrow. As to the Future. Dr. Truby King went on to speak of the society's future activities, emphasising the grandeur of the ideals to be striven for. He spoke, -as ho has often spoken previously, of the enormous importance of proper care- of children in the first five years ,of thoir lives, and ho made comparisons (with the aid of statistical tables or diagrams) between the amounts' of Government/ expenditure . on the care oKvery vouna childrens "in different countries. He estimated that the State expenditure on a child duriiiE tho first live years of. its life in New Zealand was 55.; "in Australia, because of the baby bonus, the amount was £5, and in Franco tho new-proposals of the Government would involve an expenditure of £50. However, lie expressed the opinion that the expenditure of even so little', as Is. per .Imbv tlirouch the organisation of the Plunket Society was likely to do much more good than a. payment of even a substantial sum to the individual

| parent. In tlio next ton years of a child's life tho Stato'expended £70 on its .education, and ho ventured. tho opinion that while education was given a deal of attention, too little attention was apt to bo given to the physical well-being of tho child to bo educated. The only way to reduce National inefficiency from the present 50 per cent, and bring it down to a very small fraction, as should- be tho caso, was to 'devote an over increasing attention to tho proper caro and training of mother and child. . He hoped that the delegates would all return to their centres' with a greater desire to do everything possible for children in tho earliest period of their growth, for without this great caro we could never" raise a race of men and women of maximum wellbeing and' efficiency. A vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. King for his address. The conference rose for the dav when these addresses wero completed,' and tho delegates were entertained at afternoon tea. The conference resumes at 10' a.m. to-day.