OUR BABIES.

Shannon News, 1 July 1924, Page 4

OUR BABIES.

SAFE MATERNITY. PRE-NATAL ADVICE AND SUPERVISION. ' " DR. TRUBY KING’S VIEWS. By Hygeia. With reference to the “safe maternity” campaign, Dr Truby King, Director of Child Welfare, interviewed last week, said: —

There cah be no question as to the supreme importance of pre-natal supervision of the safety and health of both mother and child. I quite agree with Dr. Paget that so have none of us succeeded in getting the majority of the women of this country 10 recognise adequately the need of taking proper care of themselves, and maintaining sound, normal health and fitness throughout pregnancy. Women allow themselves to drift into a state of semi-invalidism, unwilling or ashamed to take daily outdoor exercise; and; therefore, it is not to be wondered at that doctors should remark how often nowadays they approach their confinement' “flabby bundles of nerves clamouring for chloroform, and expecting quick delivery by forceps.” . “It would be quite wrong to suppose as might have been implied from a chance remark at the meeting, that the Plunket Society has 1 not hitherto paid much attention to the ing of the expectant mother. As a matter of fact, we have done all in I our power to induce women to avail themselves of the advice and help of our nurses—indeed, we have gone quite out of our way for the last nine years to -induce'women to put themselves in toucn with the PlunKet nurses as soon as they know they are pregnant. Our greatest difficulty has been the tendency to laissez-faire, which caused women in general to leave matters alone so long as they are not seriously -incc nvenienced, and to assume that matters will go all right at the confinement—and this in spite of our repeated appeals and representations to the contrary. Event ually we came to realise that it was of little avail to offer facilities to women (even married women) tp attend ’ during pregnancy at the ordinary centre for mothers with their babies unless separate times were arranged. “The sensitiveness and self-con-sciousness of young women especially made it more than trying for them to display their pregnancy before their fellow-women. In view of this fact, it wha publicly announced in Dunedin and elsewhere that private interviews could be arranged at any time with the Plunket nurses-—through the telephone, the post, or otherwise—and an appointment would* be-made at their own 1 homes or wherever most convenient, and at mutually suitabletimes, in the daytime, or even the evening. The need of such a provision was, of course, very obvious in the case of single girls who had unfortunately become pregnant: But in spite of these measures, comparatively few women consulted'our hurSes. The experience in connection with provisions for pre-natal care at the St. Helens’ Hospital., had been even more disappointing, as stated by Sir Maui Pomare and Dr. Paget—only those women go--1 ing to St. Helens’ for pre-ndtal advice - who intended • to- be delivered at these institutions. It will; be generally. conceded that these facts are very surprising, considering theponstant publicity given in the press to the offer of 1 skilled advice and assistance, and considering, further, that- the Government has sent some 50,000® copies of; their little * book for : Expectant Mother and Baby’s First Mohth’—to mothers the Dominion in the course of the last five yeaffs.

“From Dr. Paget’s remarks as to the natural tendency of women to speak to some fellow-women on intimate matters of this kind, and his statement that the best way to attract expectant mothers to attend at the i maternity clinics which are to he established, it is clear that he recognises this as the best means of establishing contact between the doctor and the expectant s mother at as early a date as -possible. Timely medical examination in the'-early stages of preg-

nancy we all recognise as of great importance, in order that any abuormalties or other unusual features may be found out and dealt with in due time, especially tendencies of overmastery of the kidneys and albumenuria. which is so readily stemmed if the proper steps are taken. There can be no question that a very active campaign with the object, among other things, of bringing women to realise the supreme importance of pre-natal care and surepvision be carried out, concurrently with the establishment of systematic clinics all over the Dominion. Until -women have been still further impressed with the fact that the health and safety of themselves and ■ their progeny depend upon early atention to essentials, our experience would indicate that comparatively few women will avail theniselves of the facilities offered.

"Some years ago the Plunket Society even weht the length of inducing several married nurses, with extensive experience, to offer their private services voluntary in this connection — their knowledge, their time, their telephones, and the privacy of their own homes, in the daytime or even in the evening, were freely placed at the service of expectant mothers in order to bring about enlightment- and safety. It was assumed in an editorial in a leading newspaper that this would certainly achieve the object in view, when the offers were published, and some such remark as the following was made: 'Surely this offer and appeal must prove irresistible to expectant niothers. Surely they will ayail themselves of what is so delicately and alluringly offered—the opportunity for friendly confidential talk with a fellow- ' ,woman who has borne children herself, after being a matron of Karitahe Hospital, Dunedin.’ Much more than this was said to the same effect. It was pointed out that the woman who would put service before self in this way very deeply impressed themselves* with the importance of what they were offering, or they would never have undertaken so exacting a task. It was I said; further, that they must not only have had deep personal feelings and convictiphs of their own, but they must have convinced their husbands also, otherwise the men wjould never have consented to their private homes being virtually turned into public bureaus in this way. In spite of all this provision, while a considerable number did apply, the applications were few compared with what on would naturally have expected. However, I may relate one very significant application which came to Mrs. Tythe Brown, of Wellington* about a fortnight after the published announcement. It was from a member of the Givi! Service in Sydney, who wrote saying that for the previous 10 years she had been a typist and secretary, and she felt that tne nature of her calling; had given her no qualification for wifehood and motherhood. In all the great city of Sydney, there was no one to whom this woman could turn with such certainty of sympathetic advice and help' as to the lady in question. I cite this case because it seems to me eloquent of the extreme need r ther e is, under the complex conditions &f our civilisation, for offering, and even pressing on, women skilled ahd competent advice and help f*- > safeguarding of themselves and their children

“In ’spite of the comparative disappointment in the past, I am absolutely confident now that this matter has been taken in hand by the Minister of Health, backed with perfect unanimity on the part of the Officers of the Helath Department, and . with the whole-hearted sympathy and support of the Plunket. Society, we shall be able to get the public educated up to realising the necessity of the case, and to availing themselves of the facilities offered, in the same way as the public of the Dominion have come to make full use of the services of the Plunket Society in other directions.”