MATERNITY HOSPITALS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17329, 18 November 1916, Page 4

MATERNITY HOSPITALS.

EXTENSION OF USEFULNESS. STATEMENT BY HON 0. W. RUSSELL. Tile increased cost of living has made it necessary for the Government to revise the scheme under which the State maternity hospitals in the Dominion are conducted. At present no mother can enter one of the hospitals if her husband earns more than £4 a week. Originally the limit was £3, but' the Hon (If. W. Russell had the sum altered, and now, as a further concession, if there are several children in the family r tho regulation is further relaxed in order that a mother whoso husband receives moro than £4 a week may enter one of the hospitals. Mr Russell .announced yesterday that, the Health Department had arranged for medical officers conwith these hospitals to attend at the institutions in two afternoons each week, in order to give instructions to expectant mothers. Mr Russell said that this would not interfere in any way with the work of tho Plunket Society, hut the advice of trained medical practitioners would supply information which could not be given by tho trained imrses. . It was hoped by those means to avoid many of the dangers to both tho mother and the child inseparable from the time immediately preceding birth. The advice given would be free to all; it would not be restricted to those who intended to enter the hospitals. If, however, a’ patient announced that she had engaged a medical practitioner for the accouchement, she would bo required to return homo in order to receive medical attention from him. “In view of the shortage of population caused by the war," Mr Russell said, “ the Government places much importance on this new departure in maternity work. A large part or the flower of our population has been lost, and every branch of the Public Health Department that deals directly with the birth of children and their uprearing is receiving dose attention. The Royal Society for the Health of Women and Children, better known as the Plunket Society, is being reorganised. The scheme which I have placed before the society’s executive, and which it has adopted, is that each individual branch should be a unit in the organisation, and that there should be a provincial body, which will be responsible for extending the work within its district. Finally, there will bo a Dominion executive, which will have its headquarters in Dunedin, in order that Dr Traby King may continue tho splendid work lie has done in tho past. The Dominion executive and the provincial bodies will meet once a year. It is expected that this scheme will lead to a rapid expansion of the work. . Dr King and Mrs King have arranged to make a tour of some parts of the North Island, whore tho society has no branches or only weak ones. I will join them at the beginning of December, and will hold meetings m Auckland city and Hamilton. ’ Mr Russell said that the Karate no babies’ hospital in Dunedin bad .done admirable work. He wished to see similar hospitals in the other three centres at least. By using the services of trained specialists, in nursing, all the resources of science would be brought to bear in the efforts to suvfa child life. This work, also, might be| Aiken in hand by the units in the scheme he had described. The Minister before concluding the interview, said that the scheme of mnternity hospitals was put into operation by Mr R. J- Seddon. Originally there were four, and now the Government had taken control of a private one in Gisborne. He had arranged with the Napier Hospital Board to have a maternity ward, and the ladies of Hastings, where there was no public hospital, were willing to raise at least £4OOO for a maternity hospital in their town if the Government conducted the institution. He had accepted the offer with many thanks.