WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 280, 25 November 1912, Page 6

WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

DR TRUBY KING lS TOUR.

Tfee Blent-eim Borougjh* Council was advised in a;fetter repeiy^ed on Friday--; j*ight fcom Mts A: ;Carr, vioe-presi-: atetrfc of th© Society for Proiaoting the Health of Women and Children, that l(r and Mrs Truby King proposed i visiting Blenheim in the interests of j fliat Society's objects. Th© date fixed , for Blenheim was Wednesday, December 4th. The communication asked tfse Mayor to call a meeting of represemtative people at an early date, and ba»ve a prov&iohal committee formed , twiio would undertake the necessary ; arrangments for v lecture. It was toped that every effort would be ! made to secure a. meeting worthy of *lz© mission i& which Dr King was flleTrotinj; himself in tli© interests &£ tbe rising g&neration. The letter continued as follows: — "Branches <*f this Society have , li«eca. esta3blisbed for some fire years and more m nine of the larger (baatres in New Zealand, and under tfce present Boheme so much interest omd enthusiasm has been aroused everywhere Br King has lectured J tfeat many tiew branches have been formed. The public are subscribing j freely and generoudy, and as soon as j ike Plunket Nurses can be trained im fill all to© positions awaiting them this health campaign will be pushed ; on with great vigor all, through the.; ©ominion. I feel sure that you will ' bare* no difficulty in getting a few; earnest people to take this matter. tip." '. ' ! The matter of auranging for the reception of Dr and Mrs King wafe entrusted to the Mayor, and the fallowing information, i-egarding their -misison was banded to the press: — The Honorable the Minister for Public Health, has expressed, the desire that the work which ' the Society for the Health of Women and , Children has been carrying out in ihe> oight main centres of the DoBiinion should be extended along . similar lines^ throughout the whole j. country. In order to effect tins, Dr j « Tiruby King is to be associated With I | ■Ac; Public, Health Department for j | ihe> next few*.months and is to deliver ,| | a series of-lectures^ etc., mainly in j « country:.;■■districts.. '._•'.-. '■„■ ~, I Dr Valemtine, the Cfhief Health. j | Officer, under whom /the scheme will j | be carried out, has arranged for the ! | co-operation, and assistance of the j | officers of his Department, and it is j desired that everything should be j | arranged as expeditiously and | economically as possible, and at the ; saaie time with a view to perman- j. eoce. Local committees are to be J farmed in every township where a j body, of earnest people can be got j together who will devote themselves ] to furthering the welfare, of the j women and okildren of the Dominion j in the direction indicated by the ■ and objects" of the Society, j Tie.:— '. •' •' ' 1. To disseminate accurate informa- } tion on matters affecting the; health of women and children by ;, means of lectures, demonstna- j tions, newspaper articles, j pamphlets, correspondence, ? teaching in the home and otherwise. j 2. To uphold the sacredness of the i bodf and th© duty of health; to inculcate a lofty view of the responsibility of maternity and \ duty of .eveiy mother to fit: - herself for motherhood both befor© and. after child-birth. s In the formation of committees .*_ tfaey lay speoial emphasis on the aeoessity of members being as widely j representative as, possible, and what j is Riven, below can be taken as a j general working guide. A full com- j;i mittee on\ such lines would embrace1' i perhaps twenty members; but, of ; \ course, there would be many small J places where half-a-dozen or even less ' | would suffice. Indeed, there _ are at [<\ ■tike present time virtual stations of ; « the Society where th© local represen- j | tatiye consists of one mother, who, o feavins received help and benefit her- s < self, wishes to conier similar advan.- < tages -on her fellow-women. Dr Talintine entirely concurs that such ; women are invaliuable, and we .hope j tfeat; s wherever possible, several representative, mothers who already j ■ ii*ve tHejij. ■li^arts in the movement; will be included on the committee. | The rest, cine may roughly indicate ; ■aa follows: ---The ,wife of the Mayor;, • th© wife "of the chairman '•.' of the ' Hospital. Board; the matron of the -local hospital; the wives of the clergy <i£ all denominations: a representative «f the llomaa Catholics, Jews, Salvation Army, etc., etc.; wives of doctors and chemists; a married professional nurse, whether practising or mot; local schoolmistress; wife of M.P., if in. the district; a selection of other women fairly representative of th.© whok> community. Several men fco act as an Advisory Board. The particular selection would, of course, lie influenced by local circumstances and opinion as to probable fitness and interest in the work. Of course, half the battle is a good, keen, energetic, capable secretary. As Herbert Spencer says: '.On© person with earnest conviction is worth a hundred with: mere interest" ia such a position. ! From one centre it i£ expected tnat ."■a % nurse could work the townships within a radius of 50 miles or so— more or less, according to local conditions. The nurse would bo resident at the cemltre, but would «ake periodical visits every weeK, ; every month, every quarter, or every sis months, or so,, according to circumstances, and at each branch she ' would, as far as^ possible, get at least one capable mother of the right sort trained and interested so as to act locally in the spirit of what is referred to in pages 8 and 9 of the ; JJunedin annual report. In this way, without involving great annual outj-; lay, a capable, trustworthy adviser \and helper could be established with- \ in. reach of every mother (expectant j or actnhl). . " i Tliis will do much towards fulfilling ; "Dr Valintine's idea of rendering the; back-blocks less trying for women. j As regards the nurse employed, it i is understood that where practicable , - she will do what she can in the way \ t «€ district nursing, but this is not allowed to interfere with the com-, plete effective and regular fulfilment : •£ her health mission to parents and babies. '; Twenty-four shilling for pound subsidy up to £100 will be granted by : Government. Thus, if £90 is subscribed throughout .the whole district; visited, a subsidy up to £100 would b© paid on. this, making £190 avail- , The uniform salary will be £150; per annum. A suitable arrangement ivill be made as. to the lodgment of the nurse when travelling. The nurse will, of course, make her. own arrangements as to board j^nd lodging j at her own expense, at the centre. \ The authorities are aoixious that, i as far as possible, Dr King should , . lecture in the course, of the next four j ] months at every place in the Do- j <

minion where there.is a local population from a few hundreds upwards. It is obvious that this can only be effected in a way likely to result in a permanent organisation if the branch committees' have been established ahead in the townships throughout the district. There is not the slightest doubt that if we can successfully carry troe this scheme in conjunction with the , Health Department, it will greatly enhance the prestige and effectiveness of the Society and will be instrumental in bringing about a further great lowering of the infantile death-rate throughout the Dominion, while at the same time exerting a,most potent influence in regard to health. I not only hopej but feel sure, you will do what you can to make this scheme a , success. • Dr Valintine has kindly arranged to have a good lantern screen placed at Dr King's disposal, and we shall hay© th© advantage of suitable adver- ■ tising in connection with th© ad- : dresses that are to b© given, besides the printing of some charts and other ; matters. With th© aid of these and \ the new pamphlet, "What Baby ! Needs," there should! be no difficulty \ in: greatly enlightening the mothers j even in the mast remote regions. !