WHAT BABY COSTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 198, 22 August 1928, Page 6

WHAT BABY COSTS.

HEAVY CONFINEMENT CHARGES. (To the Editor.) In a claim made against a man owing feci for the birth of his child, a Gisborne magistrate protested against the high fee 3 charged by nursing homes. "How can a man meet these charges?" he asked. The amount sued for was £23 2/. The magistrate said that the State was receiving an asset by children, but nevertheless he made an order for the full amount, plus three guineas, the counsel's fee. You will notice that no inquiry was ordered to ascertain if the charges made were just, and it was not stated that the confinement was in any way abnormal, or if a doctor's fee was included, therefore I assume the case was normal and the charges were those of the nursing home; that is, the services of the midwife, materials used and board and lodging for, say, ten days. The cost of clothing for the child and some subsequent attentions commonly needed the father would be expected to pay in addition. As I crossed to Milford not long ago a working man, observing my admiration for a little child, remarked to me: "Yes, very pretty, but they cost a lot. I have just now got a bill for £28 for my first baby. I tell you, it is pretty hot for a man on small wages." Xow that there is a general request to "keep the cradles full," it seems a suitable time to ask for a reduction in the charges made by doctors, nurses and nursing homes, or that they should be reduced in accordance with the means of the parents. The doctors are already suggesting that "to make labour safe," or "safer," a fee of £8 or £10 to the doctor attending would not be excessive! A licentiate in midwifery limited to special practice in town might well be satisfied with £5 as a fee for his services, exceptionally valuable by reason of his special training and unusual skill, and a midwife should be satisfied with the two guineas which, at one time, was the doctor's fee, but the general practitioner (who, according to the latest report of the Health Department, is by no means a specialist in maternity) should, I think, accept three guineas very gratefully. Is it not possible to arrive at, and fix by law, standard fees for normal confinements? DADDY.