The Daily News. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1921. THE MATERNITY TOLL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1921. THE MATERNITY TOLL.

It is bad enough to discover the existence of any serious blot on the good name of the Dominion, but far to have unenviable notoriety thrust on the country by revelations from abroad. According, to a recent Press message from Christchurch, considerable discussion has lately taken place on the figures published 'by the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, which place New Zealand at the bottom of the list of nations in respect to maternity mortality. Reporting on the matter, by request of the Minister for Health (Hon. C. J. Parr), Dr. Valintine (Director-General of Health) admits the correctness of the figures given by the American bureau. Unfortunately he appears to be chiefly concerned in exculpating the Department rather than in suggesting what steps should be taken to remedy an evil that is certainly much to be deplored. To merely advise that “we must wait further information before we can condemn either the department or the medical profession,” may fit in with the taihoa policy which seems to cling to that department, but a matter involving life and death -is not one in which “wait and see” tactics are permissible. It is not the question of apportioning blame that matters; it is ascertaining the cause and adopting remedial measures that are all-important, and admit of no delay. New Zealand, thanks largely to the unbounded enthusiasm of Dr. Truby King, has done splendid service as regards the care and* preservation of infant life, and the question naturally arises why equally successive means should not be taken in the far more important sphere of maternity. Admitting the soundness of Dr. Valintine’e belief that the average work of the medical profession in the Dominion is more .than comparable with (that tin other lands, it is no excuse to offer for the needless sacrifice of valuable lives to say that “the exigencies of a busy practice lead to much hurried midwifery which must be disastrous to both mother and child.” In effect, this is a direct charge of callousness of a most serious kind. Referring to remedies, Dr. Valintine’s remark, “if any are necessary,” would seem to imply a doubt as to whether remedies are necessary, though possibly he means “wait and see” if such is the case, while later in the report it is stated: “These facts will be brought before the medical profession, and no doubt drastic steps will be taken—if considered necessary—to counteract this apparent negligence,” a typical official attitude. What the public have the right to know is why action has been delayed, and why it is not made a criminal offence for any doctor or nurse to jeopardise the lives of mothers. The provision of maternity wards at all public hospitals, as well as an adequate supply of qualified nurses under .State control, would go far to minimise the existing evil. Certainly no time should be lost in getting at the root of this blot on the Dominion, and taking all steps to remove it. It is the business of the Health Department to take this matter in hand, not perfunctorily, but with a determination to see it through. Never mind about the blame; let the remedies be paramount.