MATERNITY CASES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22603, 16 December 1936, Page 15

MATERNITY CASES

NEEDS OF AUCKLAND THE PUBLIC SERVICES MINISTER'S ASSURANCE "GO THE WHOLE DISTANCE" Various suggestions for the improvement oi public maternity services in Auckland were discussed last night bv the Minister of Health, the Hon. P. Kraser, with deputations from the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, the Auckland .Maternal Wcliare Society and women members of the Auckland Labour .Representation Committee. The Director-General of Health, Dr. M. H. Watt, and the inspector of private hospitals, Dr. T. J;. Paget, were present.

Mrs. A. Hutchinson, assistant-secre-tary to the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, said the society had reached the conclusion that maternity services in Auckland for those who were unable to pay the usual medical and nursing fees were inadequate. Patients of this class had the alternative of entering the St. Helens Hospital or of being attended in their homes by district nurses. The Auckland Hospital Board had no maternity hospital and no ward set apart at the Auckland Hospital for complicated maternity cases. The society understood, moreover, that unmarried mothers were not received at St. Helens, and that owing to lack of accommodation there*! the Hospital Board frequently paid the tees required for the treatment of urgent cases elsewhere. Use of Anaesthetics

Mrs. Hutchinson also assorted that the practice adopted at St. Helens for giving anaesthesia in the absence of a doctor was merely a makeshift and did not afford the relief from pain that was obtained by mothers who were able to afford medical attention. She said her society hoped that the Government would enlarge the hospital, provide more doctors for its staff and see that a modern maternity hospital was established by the Hospital Board. Mrs. X. M. Molesworth, on behalf of the Labour Representation Committee, endorsed Mrs. Hutchinson's remarks and submitted the following remits:—(l) That the Auckland St. Helens Hospital be enlarged, modernised and provided with a theatre for surgical cases. (2) That resident medical officers be appointed to the hospital. (3) That the law be amended to allow of the admission of single women to State maternity hospitals. Minister's Undertaking

The Minister, in reply, said that, as he understood, the policy of the former Government had favoured tho takingover of the St. Helens hospitals by the hospital boards. That was not the policy of the present Government, which considered that they should continue to be thoroughly efficient training schools for midwives. He agreed with the deputation that entirely adequate provision should be made everywhere for the treatment of maternity cases. It was evident that State facilities required to be increased in Wellington and Christchurch, although equal need did not exist in Dunedin, and he could give an assurance that the Government intended to "go the whole distance," in accordance with the policy that the Labour Party had adopted in its earliest days. Mr. Fraser added that, while the Auckland St. Helens Hospital might need extension, he did not consider that the State should undertake tho whole responsibility for maternity care. Hospital boards had full power to establish maternity hospitals, and it was well that they should have it. He was not aware that any single women had been shut out of St. Helens hospitals. Decrease in Mortality

Dr. Watt explained at length the policy of the Health Department in regard to the training of midwives in the St. Helens hospitals. He said the new system in the past 14 years had led to a remarkable decrease in maternal mortality, especially in the hospitals, with the result that New Zealand had now a lower ordinary maternal death-rate than any other country in the world except Holland. He had that morning questioned 27 patients in the Auckland St. Helens Hospital, and all had stated that they were thoroughly satisfied with their treatment. All had had an anaesthetic except one, who had refused it. The medical staff consisted of two part-time officers and one honorary officer, and one was always available for complicated cases. It was not considered necessary or desirable to appoint resident officers. Dr. Paget confirmed these views. Single women were fully entitled to all the facilities of the hospitals. He did not agree that the use of anaesthetics was in any way inadequate.