Giving your children a good start

Press, 27 February 1986, Page 8

Giving your children a good start

by

MAVIS AIREY

Providing B MNMr for parents’* is Ogston des»g|Bi|ipte.network of 50 Centres across Oo<CMtres aim to help equip -parents for their ImMffliMing but rewarding role, and to help them to establish sound family retotioaships. In this way, y'ithey believe, parents will sfebe- giving their children •; 'the best possible start in i life. They provide education and supportive programmes within the community and liaise with medical, educational, nursing and physiotherapy personnel. Christchurch Parents’ Centre has been going for more than 30 years. It was started by a group of parents who saw the need for a better understanding of pregnancy and parenthood, and who were concerned that the mental health of new babies and their mothers was often affected adversely by the conditions in the hospitals at the time. They not only wanted husbands to be present and supportive during labour, but also to have more sensitive treatment for women and their babies. During the years they have pressed for reforms and improvements in the health services. In 1975, husbands were finally admitted to Christchurch Women’s Hospital theatre. The Centre’s philosophy has also moved with the times. The original natural childbirth teaching has been modified to “educated childbirth:” ac-

cepting the use of pain relief when required. For many years, husbands only attended certain antenatal sessions

with their wives. Since 1970, the courses have been aimed .at couples, and numbers have increased dramatically. Christchurch Parents’ Centre is now based at Hagley House, in the

grounds of. Hagley High School. As well as running a variety of courses, it acts as a support group for parents to share their

experiences. It also has a library, holds Acorn Qubs in the suburbs, sells babycare lambskins, and produces a newsletter. Lucille Ogston has been its president for the past

three years. She first got involved with the centre through going to an antenatal course when she was expecting her first baby eight years ago. The course, and meeting like-minded people, made a deep impression on her. “I remember word for word some of the things at my antenatal class all those years ago — and I still apply them," she says. She believes her involvement with the centre has benefited her husband and family as well as herself. “It has really helped me get through those years with pre-school children. It’s a marvellous support group, with women who are likeminded — that’s the most important thing. I have felt reassured in my and my husband’s child rearing,” she says. “It’s important for your self esteem.” She also points to the relief of finding a safe group to take a two-and-a-half-year-old to and be able to relax and not worry about knick-knacks or temper tantrums. Last year, the Christchurch Parents’ Centre ran 17 antenatal courses. Forthcoming courses are all full, but Lucille admits they are not reaching many of the people most in need of antenatal education, just the middle class. “This criticism is constantly levelled at us. But the middle classes need help too. Couples have such huge expectations,” she argues. They experimented

with holding a free antenatal course in Aranui, with all the professionals involved donating . their time. “But no-one came, except those who would have come to Hagley House and paid.” One reason, she thinks, is the commitment the antenatal course requires: One evening a week for eight weeks, involving both prospective parents. She finds a wider range of people attends other Parents’ Centre courses. On offer at the moment are Living with a preschooler, Adoption and infertility, Baby massage, and Starting school. The cost varies from $5 for two lessons in baby massage to $32 a couple for the antenatal course. Subsidies are available for anyone who would other-

wise be unable to attend. Although Lucille has become heavily involved in the organisation Itself, she stresses that it is perfectly possible to just sign on for a course and leave it at that, if that is what you want. Valuable as the courses are, many parents do feel the need for continuing support, Lucille finds. “I get a lot of calls from women wanting help. That’s the most difficult area: Trying to put them on to the right agencies,” she says. Often it is not professional help that people need, but on-hand support from other parents who have had similar experiences. “A lot of women are coming out of hospital not knowing what to do,

not feeling at ease with their baby. “They need support, because it’s the feelings that are there right at the beginning that set the scene for the rest of childhood,” she says. These women do not want to go to a support group, and domicilary midwives and Plunket nurses do not have the time to give this sort of day-to-day support, she maintains. Leaders of the Parents’ Centre antenatal courses try to follow up the people in their groups, offering, for instance, daily support to women with breast feeding problems. “It’s using the experience that parents have had,” says Lucille. “People say to me, T always remember you saying that — I did it, and it helped.’ ’’