A NEW CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 104, 3 May 1924, Page 7

A NEW CAMPAIGN

REDUCING MATERNAL

MORTALITY

"PROTECT THE MOTHER AND YOU PROTECT THE CHILD"

STRONG STATEMENT BY DR.- *

TRUBY KING.

The statement of .the Minister. '.'.-"of Health published in' 'The Post-"'' Jasif evening marks the beginning of a new campaign for the reduction of Maternal Mortality and for saving the-lives' of infants. Interviewed with reference tor this most important question, Dr. Truby. King, whose name in connection with! successful child welfare, work is' a^" well known throughout the world, madef the following statement to-day:— ,'."..'.*

"The pronouncement by the Ministee of • Health confirms • and ; emphasises ■ our" unjustifiably) high rate of Maternal Mor-T tality, which was proclaimed several years ago by the publication of comparative statistics compiled by the Unit-; ed States ChOd Welfare Bureau, aftec" the return to America of Dr. and Mrs.,. Woodbury, who had been sent round the Dominion in order to investigate and. report on matters, affecting the .wellbeing of Mother and Child.

"It was hoped the publicity then giyert to the subject, and tile reports and conclusions published by our. Health Board soon afterwards, would bring about' some improvement. However, as matters still remain substantially the same, and as recent revelations concerning puerperal fever,in Auckland have, again, shaken public faith and confidence, anil, caused the greatest misgivings through-' out the whole community, it is obvious that matters cannot be. allowed to remain as they are—drastic reform is absolutely necessary without any unnecessary delay. .''.'..• SAFEGUARDING THE MOTHER.: "The step taken by the" Minister ■of Health in frankly proclaiming and defining his, own sphere of responsibility, and in drawing attention to the face that the reforms which' must be effected lie largely outside the -immediate boundaries of his Department,, must commend itself to everyone; but no doubt the whole community -will look to the Minister to use his. influence, in bringing about a concerted, movement, embracing all those who can help to place motherhood on a sounder, :beiteiv and more secure basis. This, would, ensure at the same.time a very ■ great reduction in our abnormally high rate of Infant Mortality in the course.. b£ childbirth and during the first.-. few. weeks afterwards. Safeguarding. the mother always involves safeguarding the child: mother and child stand or fall together— protect the mother and' \#u protect the child. ■ ■ : ■■ '

"In the comparison instituted by the Minister between Amsterdam (a city with about half our total population) and the Dominion, it has been shown by the Medical Chief of-the Dutch Stai tistical Bureau that we are losing annually at the present time nearly three times the proportion of mbthers lost in Amsterdam through child birth, and more than twice as many babies at -or' soon after birth^ and-that this occurs, in spite of the fact that the death rate among New Zealand infants'after Teaching one month of age is only half tho Dutch rate. ,A GREAT OBJECT. ... "One mother killed or allowed to die unnecessarily means ,a . dozen mothers gravely damaged and handicapped .for life; and one baby similarly sacrificed means a dozen babies more or less seriously handicapped or wronged. The question drawn ' attention to by Sir Maui Pomare involves the health and fitness, indeed the very lives, of thousands of mothers and babies throughout the Dominion; and upon theJssue'.'voir depend very largely what kind of population we shall have throughout this country in the future. "All over the civilised world year by year, the importance of jPublic- Health is becoming more and more recognised as a first responsibility and duty of the State, the Municipalities, the Medical and Nursing Professions, the Pressthe family, and the ' individual' When -all , pull .together ... .for ,\i common end,- we ■■ ■ shall - ■ have -■■■■no' need to worry about Hospitals, Microbes, or Epidemics, and there will be practically no such stigmas as Maternal Sepsis or Puerperal fever--or any of the other present special, disabilities or risks to life and health associated with maternity—all such confessions of ■■failure -willthen be spelt with very smalWeUers."-: >