Viewed With Alarm
MATERNAL DEATH RATE “Viewing with alarm the grave increase of maternal deaths due to abortion, this society requests the Prime Minister to consider the advisability of setting up a commission or committee to investigate the matter.” This motion wms passed at a meeting of the executive of the New Zealand Obsterical and Gynaecological Society, said Dr. Doris Gordon, secretary of the society, in an interview at Stratford. Between 1925 and 1934 the maternal deaths in New Zealand from septic abortion rose steadily from 14 in 1925 to 42 in 1934, while tho birth rate dropped consistently each passing year, Dr. Gordon said. Death certificates revealed that the majority of deaths from septic abortion occurred in married women, many of them already having large families and being m poor economic circumstances. In 1934 septic abortion tragedies left 338 children motherless. She said tho society had discussed this problem frem year to year ana found no solution; recently it had received many requests for advice upon tho evil from women's organisations in the Dominion. Tho society, realising that the problem was not purely medical, but involved legal, criminal, religious and economic factors, had asked for a commission to investigate and had promised the Prime Minister that if such a commission was established the society would do all in its power to assist.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19360328.2.6.14
Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 74, 28 March 1936, Page 2
Word Count
223Viewed With Alarm Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 74, 28 March 1936, Page 2
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Manawatu Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.