OUR BABIES

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3247, 3 July 1917, Page 3

OUR BABIES

by Eygela.

Published und t the au*pii> s of the Socie'j lor the Health of Women and Children. "It U wiser to p'lt up a h nee at the top of precipice than to maintain an .unou.'anci; at the bottom,

THE AXNT.tL MEETING OF THE AUCKLAND BIiAXCH. At the annual meeting of thi• Auckland Branch of the Piunket Society tributes were paid to the ber.eticeice | ol its mission by several speakers. The following' extracts, which should be interesting to our readers, are taken from the Auckland Star: — THANKS OF THE COMMUNITY. Mr Gunson, speaking as Mayor of Auckland, said lie wa« pleased to be able to identify himself witn this splendid Society, It has been a truism that infant life was the future ot the nation; but some truisms had been somewhat overlooked in the past, and he was pleased to see that- it was not so with the Piunket Society. In the last 50 years the place of women had changed, and to-dav they stood on a plan' l which enabled them to do much va'uab'e work, ft wa- quite time, too, ttiat something n.-i- done to promote and protect the health of won.en and cliil iron. The operations Oi the Society made not only for immediate. but Lor di-;ant, results for the benefit of our race. The speaker went on to congratulate the local Society and its popu'ar and energetic piesident I Mrs G. B'nomlield) upon the noble work 'carried on. He was asiounded at tiie areat work of the th ee local nurses, and on behalf of th" citizen® he wished to bear testimony to the appreciation of that achievement. He conc'uded bv wishing the Society Godspeed in it- work of the future. BISHOP AVEKILL'S APPRECIATION Bishop Averill congratulated tinSociety upon its excellent report, tin* expansion of its work, and the increased confidence the public had in the Society. Twenty years airo he was distressed that so little wa.done by the Government or tin* cniiinuuity for mothers and children: but since those days things were altered, he was thankful to say. It was cruel to realise that the real true mothers seemed to receive so little sympathy from the Government- and the authorities. What New Zealand wanted was a iarge population, and it wa< the Piunket Society which was tl<-intr a splendid humanitarian and patriotic work for the people. Another great a.<-et to any country was tne happiness ot its people. This depended upon the home and the health of the women and children: It wa< evident that the Piu: 1 k.et Society wa< t-hijs benelicently contribu ing to the. happit:ess\o r the homes. It was terrible that children sltou! 1 start out in the race of life with the handicap of ill-health. owin<r to the ignorance of the nnthers; it was ju~t here that the Soriet\ stepped in. What more noble work could any Society be doin , -r'. J That was why it- was meeting with such generous public support. Then, too, the Society's unobtrusive war-work, mentoned in tiie report, struck a happy note. The acknowledgments of gifts of bat)/ clot!iinir t>v widows ol

heroes of North Sea battles were touching, and would appeal to all as showing how such assistance wa c appreciated. THE PLUNKET NURSES. Hs Lordship Bishop Averil!, comlimnti 111: upon tlir» rapid progress of the Society, said that, with the increase in the wor'\ there was a real dancer of overloading the nurses, who. he understood, numbered three. As far as lie could cat tier there were no "strikes" amongst the nurse-,, and there was also no saggc-stton of tnc 'co-slow policy" with them. There was no nurses' union to urge claims for belter pay and shorter hours. He wished, however, to stress ;he need for helping the nurses as much as possible, and one way in which the recipients of their assistance could render help to the nurses themselves and to the good cause was by attending ujKin tne nurses for help instead of always expecting the nurse? to call on them.—(Applause). "I do not. know how the nurses get about and visit patients in this large district,* added Dr. Averill, "hut I think they should get a free pass on the tramways, and, if not, then the community should send them round in motor cars in order to save them in the good work they are accomplishing. —(Vigorous applause). PLUNKET SOCIETY'S SCOPE. EXTENSION OF WORK ADVOCATED I)r Elizabeth McDonald (medical inspecto" of -c':ods in the Au'k'and district) threw out a -uccestion that may •n the near future be worthy of full ( onsi leration. and possibly of eventual adoption. After referring to the early Veding and ca ,- e of babies as of basic : uporta'ice. Dr McDonald said that, from the experience- - <if the school children under her notice, she felt thai -orne'inn;: firthcr might also be done. She would like to e the scope of the Plunket Society extended to cove!" all child li r e up to school ace. Ir the Society could by voluntary means b idce "what was at present a cap it would he doing a great sor " vice. The doctor went on to refer to the hundreds of cases of wrondyfed and undeveloped children she had -een, and she believed that this malnutrition showed the need for the sphce of the Plunket Society being enlarced in the way she had pointed out, A lot of the troubles and ills ot children occurred just when the\ escaped babyhood, about three year* and up to six years. Once a cnild attained the third year there always seemed a dillicultv of set tine its food. Dr. McDonald said she. thought there was too much choice of food for babies in New Zealand. MEMO BY HYCEIA. The Society has never placed a limit to the age of the children under its supervision, and we have always strongly impressed on the Plunket Nurses' that they should not only give attention to the immediate needs of the mothers and babies, but they should also take interest in the growth and development of older children, especially with regard to such primary fundamental requirements as fresh air, exercise, regular meals (no "pieces" between), regular habits, the state of the teeth, sympioihs u r adenoids, proper clothing, and r.Mitcea", etc. However, our readers w ill "readi'v realise that it is impossiii'.e for the Plunket Nurses to keep in constant touch with their charges up to live or six years of age. The. more pressing needs of tie little halves take up most of their time and attention, and the Society would require far more nurse- to enable them to keep the children under supervi»io:i up ' 0 -ehod ace.