MATERNITY AIDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 16

MATERNITY AIDS.

RAISING BIRTH RATE.

WIDER HOSPITAL SYSTEM.

NEED fob visiting burses.

(Br FORTHRIGHT.)

Whs.e it is true that the oti't effec-

tual way to increase the population of ifle Dominion is by immigration, yet no effort should be spared to raise the rat-? oi cj.jT natural increase. I.a a previous article it was suggested that the of a d-nesiif help ■which was not entirely dependent on ability to pay! w»al<| aid in this direction- That is one I way; but there aie others, and it should g &e reiterated that all women, poor as ! well as rich are entitled to ail the helps possible. Particularly at the time of accouchement, all women need expert attention. Tfeis presupposes maternity hospitals whose fees are within the reach of all mothers, and whose organisation does not prevent vroaen without any financial resources at all from having precisely the sarnie attention as is given to anr other. institutions like St. He! ens, Auckland, do admirable work, j but the scope of that particular hospital is limited. The fees charged there are £-> 5/ foi the norma2 14 days' confinement. but inability to pay aX of that sum or even any of it, provided the Department of Health is. satisfied of the genuineness of the case, is no barrier to entry. The medkai attention given there is excellent, though not perhaps so elaborate as that given in some private hospitals, but it is adequate. Extension of Service Needed. This was a hospital founded by Seddon for .poor mofhers. Xow there are many poor mothers in Auckland, and yet there are only 32 beds at StHelens- The inference is obvious. There is great need of an extension of such facilities as are'offered there. women are able to afford private institutions. Their ease is not serious. They have money. . There are others, shose financial resources are smaller ' than the former, and yet who are able to take advantage of St. Helens, even < though they spread the payment, of fees over a period. Bat between these two classes there lies another. Do they receive all the care they might! The answer is in the negative. litis not due ' to carelessness. It seems to be a matter J of finance. j Then there are women who also doj not receive the care they might, but for reasons other than financial. These are women in the country. It is not, of course, suggested that even a." majority of country women do not* receive maternity care; but that attention is! farther away from them,"and" hence less] easy than for. those who live in the cities # or towns. An extension of cheap and efficient smaller hospitals for country districts would be an advantage. Ante-Natal Care. There is also another aspect. Attached} to St. Helens is a clinic, where expect-j ant mothers may take advice. It is to! be doubted whether it' is aa freely | patronised as it might -be,- though all attention is free and it is given by some of the best obstetricians in Auckland. Education is needed here, f Women should be taught how important it is, both for themselves and .their babies, to have pre-nata 1 care Such a clinic, wlet'ier at St. Helens or elsewhere, should be attended by every expectant mother. If the woman cannot eome to the clinic, the care given there should be taken to her. '{his would involve a great deal of money, time and_organisation; but it is probably the most necessary social service.

Then after the child is born, the mother still needs assistance and guidance. Thisneed of .help is where more domestic service would be particularly usefnL To give the guidance, a. wider and more complete system of visiting maternity nurses should be inaugurated. Here again, inability to pay should be no barrier, and the system should also be extended to the country. This presupposes State aid, but, as with' the maternity hospitals, to no more worthy cause * could such aid be given.

Many a child coffers in after yean because of insufficient or even wrong treatment and attention. This is not a criticism of the mother, because no woman iean be expected to have the expert knowledge of a maternity nurse. If there were an adequate corps of nurses, at least partly State-salaried, it seems logical to suggest that the childhood of this country would be better served. * Example of Fialaad. Hear what they do for mothers in that little-known country, Finland. The coat of hospital care at the public maternity hospital at Helsingfors for the women of moderate means is 25 marks (about 2/) a day. This includes expert medical care, night and day nursing, fee for operating room, nurses, everything, in fact. There are no extras. The total cost for the new-born child ranges, from perhaps. 32/ to £3. This is the ward rate, for four patients fn a room. -/• .. % • If a woman wants to be by herself, or if expense is. no object, she would have to strain her ingenuity to squander more than about £20. For that vast sum she can have a room to herself, a special nurse or two, only those doctors engaged by the "very best people," flowers every day, and practically anything else she can think of.

There is a lesson in this for New Zealand, which prides itself On its social legislation. /