Emotional Needs “Ignored”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31773, 2 September 1968, Page 14

Emotional Needs “Ignored”

The Christchurch Parents’ Centre was disappointed that any discussion of the emotional needs of the baby and its family had been omitted from a series of lectures to be held in Christchurch to mark the change in name and function of St Helen’s Hosnital. the provident of the centre (Mrs N. Sutherland) said in a statement yesterday.

The lectures would be conducted bv a team of specialists in babv medicine, and would be directed towards a “thorough studv of the physiological state of the child before, during and after birth,” said Mrs Sutherland. “How can there be a thorough studv of the physiological state of the child before, during and after birth if it does not include the emotional well-being of the mother before birth and parental anxieties and tensions during birth and the establishment of basic patterns of infantile mental health after birth," she said. “The medical profession itself has coined the single term ‘psychosomatic’ in order to describe more accurately the inter-relationship and inter-dependence of the psy-

I chological and physiological I aspects. “We are disturbed to discover that “the study of the I physiological state of the ’child’ apparently excludes the emotional needs of the child. llt appears to be setting the ! clock back in child care and family unity. “The Christchurch Women’s Hospital is a teaching hospi- , tai. and techniques and attitudes learned here by doctors and nurses will be taken out into the community afterwards. It is desirable that those doctors responsible for ithe maternity services of this hospital should give due attention to both physiological and psychological aspects of maternity care. “Although the Christchurch Women’s Hospital will only be one third the size of the National Women's Hospital in Auckland, there is no reason why its maternity services should be less medically advanced, with facilities similar to, or, indeed, more enlightened than those offered at the National Women’s Hospital,” says Mrs Sutherland. Policy In Auckland

On inquiry we found that the National Women’s Hospi tai endeavours to implement the following policy:— A husband may stay with his wife and go into the theatre with her if she is a private patient and her doci tor has agreed to this and has written a note to the registrar stating that, in his opinion, it would be beneficial to the patient; and if, in the case of a clinic patient, she and her husband request it and the doctor undertaking the delivery sees no reason to oppose it when the patient comes into labour.

A 24-hour physiotherapist service is provided for women in labour. Any mother may request a physiotherapist to help her in labour in the theatre, as well as in the first stage. The hospital physiotherapists usually visit all mothers who have had antenatal training at the hospital classes.

The obstetric “flying squad" is an important part of the National Women’s maternity service. It is equipped with blood transfusion equipment and is used when mis-

carriages occur at home, or when there are unexpected emergencies, either in the smaller hospitals or in the home.

Rooming-in is encouraged. Mothers are generally expected to keep their babies with them, but their physical and emotional state is taken into consideration. Twentyfour hour rooming-in with the mother tending her own baby to her own routine is provided for.

Permissive or demand feeding is encouraged. The mother feeds according to her baby’s individual needs, and she is asked to keep notes on the baby’s chart. If a mother is feeding her baby when meals come round her food is kept hot until she is ready to fetch it from the heated trolley.

Home confinements are not suggested to mothers, but

any domiciliary midwife maycall on the “flying squad” if she is worried about her patient, and the patient could be admitted to hospital or treated at home. Infectious mothers and babies may room-in in the separate infectious wards which are located in another wing of the hospital. Full nursing care would mean that nurses would tend the baby in its mother’s room or in a small nursery if the mother were too sick. The radium treatment unit is attached to the gynaecology department and fully shielded.

“As far as we can tell from a recent discussion with the medical superintendent-in-chief, the Christchurch Women’s Hospital will not allow husbands in the delivery room: will not provide 24hour physiotherapist service; will not provide an obstetric ■flying squad’; and it appeal's that few babies are allowed the full advantages of room-ing-in and permissive feeding programmes,” says Mrs Sutherland.