KARITANE HOME

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 131, 6 June 1925, Page 13

KARITANE HOME

FOR WELLINGTON DISTRICT GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S IMPRESSIVE ADDRESS STRONG APPEAL FORSUPPORT. His .Excellency the Governor-Gen-eral, Sir Charles Fergusson, delivered an impressive-address at a meeting at the Town Hall last evening, i-aTlcd to consider the question of establishing a Karitanc Hospital in "Wellington. There was a good attendance, and the proceedings were marked by great enthusiasm. A committee", with power to add to its number, was set up to cany on the campaign. Lady Alice Fergusson accompanied His Excellency, and the speakers included the Prime Minister (the Hon. J. G. Goates), the Mayor (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood), who presided, ■ Sir Trilby Kins;, Mr. Ernest ■ "W. Hunt, Dr. D. Macdonald Wilson (Medical Superintendent of the Wellington Hospital), and Dr. J. S. Elliott (chairman of the Council of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association).

"I am in two minds at the moment," said His Excellency the Governor-Gen-eral, "as to how much to say on this subject, because there avc other-speak-ers eornint; after mo who I think are much more qualified to give their views than I am ; but there are certain points in connection with. the scheme which 1 should like to refer to. May I .say, m slat-ting., .that there arc' some things which I have found that a GovernorGeneral may do, and there are certain things which he may not do; and one of the things which I have been. told I must not do—(laughter)—i3. to be constantly associating myself with appeals for funds—a very salutary rule, I quite see, because if one is continually going round and making appeals for institutions and things in which one is interested, one would become a public "nuisance. (Laughter*.)' But. after all, at school one used to think that rules were made to be broken, and although not for a moment Would I advocKte that, still there are always exceptions to rules, and I think no one will quarrel with me if I, on this occasion, associate myself in the warmest possible way with this appeal—(applause)—and Lam a little comforted m taking that attitude by the thought that my constitutional adviser is sitting not very far from me. (Renewed laughter.) .-■ ■■■. \ ;..- .

AM AMUSING INCIDENT "The' first time that I came in contact with this movement, curiously enough, ■was tiofore 1 arrived in New Zealand— on my way out to this Dominion. We left England in November, and it v.'as rather a stormy tune. As soon as L got my sea-legs. I decided to study literature about; New Zealand. I settled down on deck one morning with a large parcel ■ of. literature which had been given _(q me; by the High. Commissioner on leaving London. I took up the most important looking package and opened it, expecting to find-a mass of information about the trade, products, and commerce, and so on, of New Zealand, about which it was very desirable that I should become intimate. But the first paper which met my eyes was a y\mphlet headed, 'What are You Doing About Baby ?" (Laughter.), Well, at the moment I was not thinking about baby, and so I turned to the next lot of literature, immediately underneath; and the next pamphlet I came.to was "The Feeding and Care ■'of Baby.' (Laughter.) The next was 'Baby's First-Month,' and then others referring to the feeding of babies and the care, of their teeth. (Renewed laughter.) To cut a long story short, it seemed that the question of the care of the "baby was one with which New Zealand was

very intimately connected, and .1 •thought I had better read up all about if. So, instead !of studying the trade and commerce of New Zealand, I spent that- morning reading the wonderful accounts of the Plunket system. (Applause.)

OF WORLD-WIDE FAME"

"As regards the name, do not let us forget that however much Lord and Lady Plunket were helpful and sympathetic ill the initiation of this great- institution. still the fact remains that we have on this platform to-night the man of worldwide fame who is directly responsible for it—Sir Truby King. (Applause.) And here in New Zealand.when we are talking about nursing and about the baby, do not let us forget that Sir-Truby King is here—the originator of the work ; who has supported it during all these' years, and who is qualified more than any man in the whole wide world to speak' about it and give testimony as to its use. (Applause.)

WHAT THE SYSTEM MEANS "Now as regards the system itself, and ■what-the work, does, I think that probahly most of you are familiar with it. ".The system is one by which'nurses- are trained as Vlunket nurses, with full knowledge and understanding of all that science and all there is to he taught about not only nursing but the care "of children., and everything connected with them. And (lien I understand there is also the Karit.v.ie nurse, who is qualified in much (he same way. A great part of the system is to produce, a larae nursing' slaFf who are amply (ninlilied'in every possible'way lo give" advice lo all on (his iinjjwla'nl subject.

' IMMENSE BENEFITS "The. soeietv started in 1007. I suppose in those early days it would have been open for anybody nt :>. meetiiv like i Ihis to sny : -Yes. that is all very well as ! a'theory, but is ii really of iinv particular i:se?!- But that time has entirely passed, because we hnve-the evidence of all these years, to show of what immense use it has Jicci:. What do we .find? -. "'f understand that Mr. Ernest. Hunt is ;;oin- to sivr. you pome statistics, but 1 ninst refer to one r>r l.wo fisures jusl io make my point.- Yon have'uoi this cxtr.v.>r<l!n;>.rv fnrf. : ih ;l t. since i lie svstcm was' slaftvd. Xow Zealand has become ■n.b.soluj.cly first in Hie world as rcaanis ■itsjow record of infantile mortality. It is far ah.'nd of any oilier country:' and the "particular" city in Xew Zealand in winch it started shows even more mar- ' vellous icsults. You . probably are fainiiiar with these figures, but let me. mention some of them.

NEW ZEALAND'S PROUD POSITION His Excellency quoted figures showing the deaths from infantile diarrhoea and enteriiis of children under two years of ago: the annual mortality per 1000 births from this disease for Hie live years 1913-22. according to the latest available statistics. The figures quoted were those of a number of countries throughout the world. New Xe.-iland's rate being the. lowest." 3.5.. "Take that one figure alone," con-

tinned His Excellency, "Is it not perfectly marvellous ? That is the .figure for New Zealand as a whole; but in Dunedin "—the homo of this system—l think I am right in saying that in the last three years from'that disease —the most fatal of all diseases of infants, there has not been one single death. (Applause.) When the soeietv commenced its work in 1907 no less than 25 babies per 1000 died in Duuedin from infantile diarrhoea. "The chart shows that ever since- this system was started the death-rate has fallen consistently. There can be no better evidence than Chat to show that the decrease in the mortality is directly due to tin's system. Those figures speak for themselves. ''Compare those figures with the figures of other towns and of other, countries, and the rcsujt is perfectly astonishing. Just take one or two: Now Zealand, 3.5 per thousand; Australian Commonwealth, 18; New South Wales, ,19; Sydney, 22; Tasmania, 14; Holiart, IS; Great Britain, 15;' Canada, 2-1-: South Africa, 23 "NO MYSTERY IN THE THING"

"I have had the advantage of talking with Sir Truby King on this subject, and lie has given me a lot of information. I! understand that the whole point is this: -it is a matter of education. There is no mystery and training. It is simply a matter of education, and ■Hie-people knowing-what is the correct management of the child in -its earliest stages. It is a matter ot feeding, and cave. It is nothing more than that. It is something which anybody can learn. Of course, it is not. only the care of the child, but it is also the care of the mother —educating the mother in the care of herself. Therefore education is the very first tiling: and it is by those educational .methods that this system lias achieved its' success.

"STiLL MUCH TO BE DONE" "But look nfc it from another point of view—the importance of reducing this death rate in the first year of life, but I hero is the death rate in the tirst-month —which is .1 much more critical period. In that we have still to make a great advance before the position is at all satisfactory., I understand that if you take 1500 deaths in the first year of babyhood, ICOO of those deaths would be during 1 the first month. Our rate of mortality in the first month is still very large, comparatively speaking, and we do not hold pride of place as regards that point. "That shows the need for more education. It .shows that although we have succeeded in combating infantile- debility (luring the first year of life, there is.still much to be done in removing the causes which give this very high comparative* rate- of mortality in the first month. That is a matter which , not only concerns the child, but -obviously which still more concerns the mother. "How is that to be done? Surely by the same method. By education. And liow are you.to get that education? Simply by carrying out this system and educating--the nurses, who in their turn will educate the motherhood of the country. OE course, there ,are some other factors in regard to this question of reducing the mortality.

' THE BEST IMMIGRANTS ' "There is another- point of immenso importance. It is not only terriblo to think of the hundreds of babies who die every year ■whose Jives might bo saved. There .are thousands—l'suppose you might say hundreds of thousands,' if" you-take -a-.-longer period—who do not 'grow up healthy children, ns they should do.. Thcro are those who grow rip diseased or unhealthy children when they might be perfectly strong and healthy iE only better methods wero adopted. The question of population is surely a burning one in New Zealand. Attention- is devoted to immigration— people who come from abroad, but do we think enough about our own immigration—the children born in the country? Surely the latter is the immigration to which we should r>ay most attention. Surely it is belter to conserve our own children, .and turn them into healthy men and women, and to solve this problem of immigration and population* That is surely obvious. RELIEF FROM ANXIETY

"There are other points. This is one— a small one, perhaps. I rannot imagine that there is a mother in New Zealand who would not be grateful—-grate-ful is a mild word to use —to take advice or help not only in saving her baby's life, but enabling ..her to bring up that child as a healthy child instead of a sickly child. To. put it on no higher ground than her own comfort, it is easier to look after a healthy child than a sickly child. Is there any father in-New-"Zealand who would not be grateful for any help which will teach the mother how to talce care of herself—thus saving him from the awful anxiety which all" fathers have gone through at one' time or another in thinking "of j what is going 10-happen to-his wife? "This, system gives advice. It gives education, and teaches the mothers everything they can possibly need to know as regards the care of themselves and tb.e care of their children. Tt will relieve them of anxiety. It will relieve .the •■Fathers of anxiety:

and in that.' way alone it will be an ab- | eolufe blessing to humanity. . .] "WHAT IS WELLINGTON DOING?" t ' Xow we rome" to this : What is Wellington'doing? It is a pad thing, but, it is. a fact Unit Wellington is'beliind-. Itancl in putting this system-into force. T do not think there is any u.-o in blinking facts. The olhur big cities arc ahead of Wellington; and if we recognise, as we .must do, the-advan-tages- of this system and all there is to bo said for the immense benefit il does to the cdniiiiiiniiv at ].ir"e. | it is a'dreadful thin-; to" think thai in Wellington yon have only not a centre which will acc-ommoihite a very I limited number of patients.

"If T remember an'ghl. the number is only something like six mothers am i four babies: and that ran only be a<.i.omplislied sit the expense of the stall', who have practically no sitting-room or cliniiig-ioom.* and Jp.st year two of the nurses had to sleep in a teni in the winter.. That is all that Wellington canboast of. Of course, you have "•"01. looms in various centres'outside ; bill" there is only one home in Wellington itself—the comparatively small cftaldishmeiih in Kent terrace,' vlii,-h is' totally inndc■<|iinli:-. for the needs of Ihe city. Tiflirient as it i-. ii. flow not go 'a lenth of the u.i.v it ought to -ro. That is | for Wi:lliugton city; but think of Hie 5;.7.e of the Wellington district. Think of the immense work wailing for the muses. Yon have no centre in Wellington like they have in the other three cities. You have no centre where you can train Karitane Nurses. I think "1 am right in say.iiij; Hiat the ideal would be to have a

Plunkct nurses for every 30.000 of the population, which' represents about 250 babies a year. I understand you are getting on that way, but you have a lont; way to go before you set to the ideal. Wellington is lamentably behind, and unless more accommodation is provided you cannot get the trained nurses. j. REASON FOR THE APPEAL "That brings us to the point of what this appeal is for. The appeal is to put the establishment in Kent terrace- on a proper fooling, becauzu apart from

lack of accommodation and with limited appliances, that establishment has got a mortgage of £3000. £3000 is wanted to clear off that mortgage; and £2000 is wanted, for alterations, to bring that small establishment up to what it ought to be, quite apart from enlarging it. WHAT INACTION MEANS "What is really wanted is to get £20,000 to build a hospital where nurses can be properly trained in proper numbers; and what you may eajl a suitable establishment for' the Wellington district. It does not seem a very large sum to ask. Sir Truby. King, as

usual, has come to the front. He has offered a very magnificent site —an area of two acres free for the site. (Applause.) The' Rotary Club has subscribed £2000 towards "this object. I put it to you that if you do not carry this out, Wellington will be behindhand, as compared with the other three cities. If you do not do this, what docs it mean? JLt means a higher infantile death rate. It means more than that. It means that you are going to build up a population, a large proportion of which will be unhealthy ; and it, means burdening yourselves with larger hospital accommodation'and expense to deal with those

unhealthy members of the population. By educating your women folk and educating the mass of the people in these methods which have been absolutely proved to be sound, you can save those babies', lives; you can save hundreds of babies from growing up unhealthy, and you will have a. population healthy and sound in wind, limb, and mind. .As I there is no doubt health means happiness and contentment, you will have a happy and contented peox)le. OUR RESPONSIBILITY "To my mind, the responsibility lies on us, if we do not do just the thing that

lies to our Land. It is not that anybody objects to subscribing the money. Why, £20,000 in the Wellington district conld bo subscribed four times over to-mor-row. But the point is to get the people to understand the necessity for it, and what these Vlunket nurses and what this system does for the population. Once the people understand that, the money will come rolling in. We want everybody to go out and explain what this system is, what is has done and is doing in other cities. And then ask: Why in Wellington are we so backward in carrying out this work? I only wisli

I had the eloquence to push an appeal of this sort adequately. His Excellency concluded by saying: "I-Tev Excellency has a perfect passion for opening things. (Laughter). I believe that if tiift discipline at Government House were not very strict important official letters might even bo opened—(renewed laughter)"— but do give her before twelve months havo ■ passed the pleasure of opening a Plunket Hospital in Wellington which will bo not only a credit to Wellington itself, but which will be a really useful contribution to New Zealand and humanity."