CARE OF THE BABIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13938, 21 December 1908, Page 5

CARE OF THE BABIES.

WORK OF A PLUNKET NURSE. A "VERY BUSY TIME." The sight of from half'a dozen to a dozen mothers with infants in arms just within the entrance to the Auckland office of the Public Health Department, is now a familiar one, on two afternoons a week. This is one of the evidences of the good work that is being carried out in Auckland by Nurse Chappell, the "Plunket nurse," who was appointed to take charge of the district in connection with the movement for the preservation of infant life, inaugurated some time ago by Lady Plunket. Nurse Chappel has her consulting-room on the ground floor of the building, in which the Health Office is situated, and from 2.30 to four p.m. , on Tuesdays and Fridays, she attends there to give advice to mothers respecting troubles that they experience in regard to their babies. It is principally information as to feeding, including the, preparation of humanised milk, that is given by the nurse. If there aro any ailments other than those that are manifestly due only to errors in food, the mothers are advised to take the little ones to a doctor. There are sometimes as many as 18 visitors to the nurse's room during an afternoon, and Friday last was one of the busiest that has yet been experienced. During the remainder of the week, Nurse Chappell finds plenty to do in visiting, in their homes, those babies who are sick, or whose mothers are unable to call upon her at her office. " The calls upon my service are constantly increasing, and if we had: the funds, there would be enough work in Auckland for half a, dozen Plunket nurses," said Nurse Chappell, in the course of a chat ■with a Herald representative. She stated that for some ' time past she had had an assistant, but even with this help, she did not know how the work would be coped with during tho present summer. Another assistant, who was going to Dunedin for training, would be available later on, but in the meantime she expected to hav* a very busy time. The area embraced by the nurse's visiting list extends from Birkenhead to Onehunga, and- from Ellerslie to Avondale, from which it will be seen that the position is no sinecure. One of the principal ailments to which infants are subject is that of indigestion, and one of the points aimed at by the nurse is to teach mothers to recognise the symptoms of the disorder, so that the necessary remedial measures may be taken from the outset. . "As a rule," said Nurse Chappell, "I find mothers very anxious to learn all that they can regarding the* proper treatment of their infants, and many of them have expressed a wish that there had been Plunket nurses when their older children were babies." In regard to the use of humanised milk the nurse states that it would be well if mothers, before commencing a course of this method of feeding, would communicate with her, and obtain advice as to the grade of milk that is suitable for the child. This can be done by letter or telephone message, to No. 829. In some cases the milk is prepared in the mothers' homes. The Charitable Aid Board has come to the rescue in cases in which the mothers cannot afford to procure the milk. Mothers in all classes of society, it may be mentioned, are gladly availing themselves of the benefit of the nurse's advice. "It is a common occurrence," remarked Nurse Chappell, "for me to go into a house where a cook and a housemaid and a nurse aro kept, and to next find myself in the humble abode of a mother in one of the poorest quarters of the city."