BRITANNIA’S BABIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 April 1942, Page 4

BRITANNIA’S BABIES

TENDED IN THOUSAND NURSERIES. Nearly one thousand nurseries are now open throughout Great Britain today. Very many of them are war-time State nurseries brought into being by the call to married women to do work in the war. There are simple day nurseries, caring for children whose mothers are absent only for the working day. There are children’s hotels, where the evacuated youngsters stgy permanent. There are special residential centres for children who have been shaken by bombing.

All of them, staffed by registered nurses and dieticians, are a success. In a typical centre, at Bibury, in Gloucestershire, each child gained from 1 to 4 lbs. in weight. This particular nursery caters for cases, most of whom suffered from anaemia and malnutrition apart from emotional disturbance. All the nurseries accept children ir- 1 respective of their nationality. Sylvia Linial, for example, is a small Austrian girl of three who had to be taught again how to walk. Now she runs and is going to a nursery for normal children.

Brenda Macey, 2, bomb-shocked, could not bear to be touched at first. She was scarcely able to eat her food and she had night terrors. Now she is well and happy once more. The Women’s Voluntary Services help in the work for Britannia’s Babies, and the American Red Cross has given it £65,000.