Plunket Society has baby boom workload

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 262, 8 November 1988, Page 9

Plunket Society has baby boom workload

The current baby boom is overburdening postnatal care according to the Plunket Society.

Official figures have indicated that the number of births this year is likely to reach 60,000 and Plunket nurses are already struggling to meet their current workload. "If we value our children, resources must be made available to organisations supporting parenting, says principal Plunket nurse Mrs Gwenda Mark-Woods.

"We are having to set priorities and are becoming a needs-driven service." New babies will always be first priority according to Mrs MarkWoods but the increase birth rate has placed pressure on maternity wards resulting in early discharge. The Plunket nurse is being forced to take over the role of hospi-tal-based midwifcry

services who in the past have established breast feeding and have ensured the needs of both mother and child are adequately met before they leave the hospital. Plunket stresses that mothercraft is not an inherent skill and a young mother relies heavily on a Plunket nurse in the first few months. The increased burden has meant that Plunket can no longer supply one to one supcrvision. Instead, group clinics, sclf help health care courses and neighbourhood support groups are the new learning grounds for knowledge

on parenting skills. "We are attempting to duplicate the warm, supporting atmosphere of the extended family where motherhood skills were passed on from mother to daughter but sadly today is rarely evident within our community," says Mrs Mark-Woods. "A young mother at home by herself with a new baby often feels alone and unable to cope with her added responsibility and needs to be able to turn to someone for help." The group situation has put in place for the mother a first point of contact where a Plunket nurse is not available.