PLUNKET SERVICE

Taranaki Daily News, 13 September 1940, Page 3

PLUNKET SERVICE

NURSE PETERSEN RETIRES WORK AT NEW PLTMOUTH Nurse G. Petersen, once sole Plunket nurse for a great part of Taranaki, and in the service of the Plunket Society at New Plymouth for the last 20 years, will shortly resign and embark on a wellearned retirement. Nurse Petersen has had the regard of New Plymouth mothers for her never failing care of and interest in their babies since she came to New Plymouth in 1920, two and a half years after the society was established in the district, and so is truly a pioneer of the work. Her resignation was received with great regret by the president and committee at the monthly meeting on Monday. Nurse Petersen workecl alone for the whole of her first year in the district, taking the place of Nurse Williams, who first blazed the trail. At that time there was no school nurse, no district nuise and no Red Cross nurse and the nearest child welfare nurse was at Wanganui and visited New Plymouth only on the rare occasions whcn that was possible. Nurse Petersen spoke yesterday of the difficulties of the early days of Plunket work. It was necessary to limit benzine to four gallons a week, which was very little on which to make the long joumeys to out-of-the-way country districts, especially when several calls came in one day. Changcd Own Tyres. In addition Nurse Petersen had to change her own car tyres when tyres were the sort that really had to be changed — taken off the rlm, new tube inserted, and then the arduous task of replacing the tyre on the rim. That was, of course, all changed now, she said, and a puncture was not nearly such r. serious matter. She could remember one morning when she had two punctures, one after the other. It was in the days when benzine was short that the nurse received a letter from a man at Rahotu saying that he would send her in a tin of benzine so that she could go out and see how beautiful his baby was. "But that wasn't the usual message," she said. With such a large area to cover, organisation for one person was difficult and often It was three months before mothers brought their babies to her or sent for her. Many was the emaciated under-nourished baby she had to set to work to save because its mother had not realised it was sick. Nowadays a little note was sent to a baby's mother directly it was born asking her to let the nurse see it after a fortnight. Then if the baby was not gaining it was a much easier matter to put right than correcting one that had been on the down grade for three months. Other Brnnchcs Foundcd. However, Nurse Petersen had the valuable help of Nurse Castle in her second year, the year a sub-branch was opened at Waitara. Six months later Inglewood became a sub-branch, but It was not until seven years later that Nurse Cartwright joined the staff. Rahotu became a sub-branch in that year. Three nurses have been occupied on the work ever since and the number of babies under the care of the Plunket Society has been steadily growing, the health of young children improving immensely. As many as 8000 babies have passed through the Plunket nurses' hands since 1920 and Nurse Petersen has taken, and still takes, a personal interest in all those committed to her care. She proudly mentioned that for the past few years the great majority of primary school children who were duxes of their schools were "her" babies. She rarely forgets the name of one of her charges and although she may not recognise them by sight when they grow older she is always interested when she reads their names In the newspapers for various successes and is always deeply sorry when any misfortune happens to one of "her" babies. "One of the advantages of living in the same town for 20 years has been that I have been able to see the progress of the. work of the Plunket Society and prove its worth," said Nurse Petersen.