SOCIETY FOR THE HEALTH OF WOMEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16491, 5 March 1914, Page 2

SOCIETY FOR THE HEALTH OF WOMEN.

THE TRAVELLING PLUNKET

NURSE.

REPORT OF FIRST YEAR’S WORK. At the last meeting of the committee of the Society for the Health of Women and Children the report of the first year’s work of the travelling Plunket Nurse, Nurse Kilgour, was received and was considered most satis-: factory. The report stated that for five months, from March 16 to August 16, 1913, half her time had been spent in Ashburton —a fortnight in each month—and wlien she handed the work over to the permanent Plunket Nurse engaged by ■ the Ashburton committee there were eighty-five babies on the books. In May and September, Kaikoura had been. visited, twenty-one cases being attended to. Nurse Kilgour had again gone to pay her usual visit —an arrangement having been made by which Christchurch undertook to 6end a Plunket Nurse every four months, during which time she would work under a committee, formed in Kaikoura for furthering the work. At Kaiapoij Rakaia. Methven, Springfield, New Brighton, Coalgate and Lyttelton, babies and mothers had availed themselves, of her services. ' . . There was no'doubt that the public greatly appreciated all that the Society was doing for the welfare of the mothers and children, and the constant appeals for help and. advide proved that the need existed for educating parents as to the best methods of feeding and so on. Thanks to the efforts of Mrs Pyne, a sufficient sum—£B4—had been collected last year from country friends: this with £25 from Ashburton, enabled the Society .to apply for the subsidy of 24s per pound up to £IOO, which was now granted by the Government, and also made it possible to provide the salary necessary for the travelling Plunket Nurse. The question at present before the Society, continued the report, was, how was the work to be carried on in the outlying districts if the country residents’ did not come forward' and help ? The original scheme as put forward, at the time the new branch of the work was inaugurated, was that email committees, consisting of three or five interested women, should be formed in country townships and districts, to help the nurse by advising her as to visits to be paid and informing her as to cases requiring her attention—each committee to collect a small sum from £2 upwards, towards the expenses. ’ It was very disappointing .to have to record that, with the sole exception of Kaikoura, no one had responded anywhere to the appeal made by the Christchurch branch. The sum needed was only £B4, as with the subsidy and the railway pass also provided by the Government, that was quite sufficient. It was to be hoped that Canterbury would not be behind hand in coming forward this year. Christchurch people had been so generous in helping the work in the town for the last six years that it did hot seem fair to ask them to subscribe to the travelling nurse. In Christchurch, under Nurse Hansard and Nurse Ellis, most satisfactory progress was reported, the number of babies and mothers on the books for the month being 302 and 355 respectively. In addition to that, there was a constant demand for lectures and addresses to women and young girls—both in town and in the country —and many mothers in distant parts were helped by correspondence and leaflets. The report was adopted.