THE WELFARE OF WOMEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 13

THE WELFARE OF WOMEN.

OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY’S WORK. ADDRESS BY MR VICTOR BONNEY. The Somerset Lounge of the Savoy was well filled on Thursday, when the weekly luncheon of the Rotary Club was held. The chair was occupied by Professor G. E. Thompson (vice-president), and the principal guest was Mr Victor Bonney, the eminent English surgeon. In the course of an address Air Bonney stated that he would like to say a few words on a subject that was very dear to him, and one for the assistance of which he had come all the way from England. He had been asked to come here to help to inaugurate a new movement—the obstretrical society—the object of which was to make child-birth safer for women. They had similar societies in London, Edinburgh, the north of England, Dublin, and Belfast. They were old societies, that in London being 70 years old. When he came to New Zealand he brought to the new society the grehtings of the old ones, an address, and a chairman’s mallet for the chairman to kettp order with and defend himself if the necessity arose.— (Laughter ) He thought that obstetrics was the oldest branch of medicine, dating from Mother Eve, and he held that it was the most important of all the branches of medicine, because it directly concerned itself with the coming generation, because two lives were at stake instead of one, and because on the result of a confinement a man’s happiness absolutely depended. That result might bring him joy fo rthe rest of his life, or it might end in tragedy and disaster, which would cloud him for the remainder of his day. Air Bonney said he wanted the lay people to understand that although childbirth was a natural function it was not comparable with many other things which were also regarded as natural functions. If they thought about the matter they would realise that there was a tremendous essential difference between child-birth, and other natural functions. Ordinary natural functions were performed for the benefit of the individual, whereas child-birth was performed for the benefit of the race and at the cost of the individual. That was so throughout all Nature. In certain kinds of animals the female perished after she had created a new generation, and in others, as iu bees, the drone “ got it in the neck.” Nature concentrated on the continuance of the race, and the welfare of the parents, particularly the mother, was scarcely taken into consideration. In the old days when a woman-was confined it did not matter where the event took place or what attention she had. He had seen women confined under the most primitive circumstances. The old idea was that childbirth was a natural phenomenon, and that it did not matter where a confinement took place. It had been known for years that there was a very definite mortality attaching the child-birth, and that when a woman came into labour she took a very definite risk. There was a bigger risk than that of death, and that was the risk of injury to health. Not many women died during child-birth nowadays, but a very considerable number were injured in the process, and were never the same afterwards. When this was looked into the medical profession saw what should be done, and the ideas regarding child-birth were revised. The idea ruling now was that the carrying of a child and the delivery of a child were periods in a woman’s life requiring very close supervision. At child-birth a woman should have all the advantages that would be demanded for the simplest case of surgery. That point of view was relatively new, but it was fullv appreciated by the medical profession, though it was not so fully realised by laymen and laywomen. In England a very large proportion of women, instead of having babies in poor or inconvenient surroundings, went into maternity homes or hospitals which were furnished with c .cry applicance that human ingenuity could think of, and where they were surrounded by potential help, so that In the event of anything going wrong all the requisites for immediate assistance were on the spot. He was not saying that a woman should not be confined in her own house. She could be if the conditions were satisfactory,'but if they were not satisfactory he would strongly urge that she should be taken to a maternity hospital or home, where every possible safeguard surrounded her. As a result of the changed views they had very considerably ’•educed "the mortality during child-birth in England and Scotland. Not only had they reduced the mortality, but they had also reduced what was called morbidity. In order to do this two things were essential. In the first place they must have sufficient lying-in hospitals or homes for women to go into, and secondly they had to educate the people to the fact that unless very favourable conditions could be secured in the home it was better to go into one of these hospitals or homes, where there was a highly-trained staff to do the work. At the new university college hospital in London they had built, thanks to a magnificent donation from the Rockefeller Trust, a fine maternity hospital as part of the institution. In the scheme for rebuilding at the Middlesex Hospital there was prevision for a maternity hospital of 50 or mere beds. That would greatly relieve the situation in the districts in which the Middlesex Hospital was situated? At present, the beds were so limited that they could not take in all the women they wished to

accommodate, and some had to he attended in tiieir homes. These maternity hospitals had, of course, another very important use. In the first place they made for the safety of the women. That was the first consideration, but besides that they furnished training grounds for the students and qualified men as well, for the latter were learning all the time. He thought »that the conditions under which students got their training in the old days were disgusting. The object nowadays Ihese maternity hospitals had, of course, another very important use. In the first place, they made for the safety of the women. That was the first consideration, but besides that, thev furmshed training grounds for the'students and qualified men as well, for the latter were learning all the time. He thought that the conditions under which students got their training in the old days were very disgusting. The object nowadays in England, Scotland, and Ireland was to students under the best possible conditions, and when they went out a« doctors they insisted, a s far as possible, on those conditions being associated with their patients, besides educating the patients to seek for better things. This enlargement in tb e maternity hospital system was an important thing for everyone. It enabled students to get a wonderful training in midwifery. °That training wa s most important, because the welfar© of coming generations of women depended on it, and people in all walks of life should take a great interest in turning out men qualified to look after their daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters in the future. Then there was the question of research. They 7 knew that certain illnesses were concomitants of child-birth sometimes, and these were occasionally very difficult to deal with. A great deal of research still required to be done. For instance, there was the disease called eclampsia, which killed a considerable number of women all over the world every year. At present the cause of it completely baffled them. Research wa s being done, but a great deal more had to be done before they found out the cause. It was only in the big maternity hospitals, where a numoer of patients were under expert observation that these problems could be properly tackled.

Then they were up against the question of teaching all the students and the supervision of th e maternity hospitals, s o as to keep them up to the highest level. The problem they were up against was that of finance. In the United Kingdom money had to be raised by voluntary subscriptions, and in these hard times it was very difficult to get money. It was surprising, however, to find that the money required for equipment, teaching staffs, and so on was raised by voluntary contributions throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. He did not know bow far these problems applied in New Zealand, but he thought they applied here much the same as they did at Home. That was why he had spoken about what they were doing at Home, because he judged that they wanted to do something here in a smaller way. He had inspected the Medical School in Dunedin, and a splendid institution it was. He knew the calibre of the medical men here and the high standard of them work, and he could assure the people taat they should be very proud of that calibre and standard. He knew that before he came to New Zealand, because be had had to deal with a great many New Zealanders at Home. He°had had no fewer than eight New Zealand house surgeons in his hospitals in the last four years, and he knew of the high standard of the medical men from the Dominion. However good and energetic the practitioner might be, however, he must have the material. In the Medical School there they had a professor of medicine and a professor of surgery, and he wa s a little disappointed to fin'd that hi s particular branch did not .have a professor. Obstetrics and gynaecology should be placed on the same level as medicine and surgery. These were the three primary features of medicine, and they were of equal importance. He thought that sooner or later they would have a professor of obstetrics here.

The Obstetrical Society was going to be a very big thing one of these days. The. society in England began 70 years ago, and 70 years’ hence the people would take off their hats to the pioneers-in the movement here. Laymen could help the movement a great deal. In the first place the profession went to them for money, and also for encouragement and understanding- By helping research in midwifery and th© diseases of women one was not only doing a wood deed in general, but was also, maybe, helping some woman whom he loved to come through a confinement, thanks to the knowledge and skill available partly through a layman’s efforts and gifts, and without which it might not be available. This was a thing that touched them all frightfully closely. It touched all men who honoured women, and he appealed to them to help the New Zealand -Obstetrical Society and to take advantage-of every opportunity to push it along. . Sir L. E. Barnett, the only honorary member of the club, expressed appreciation of the opportunity of being present. As a former professor of surgery he took it that he had some qualifications for referring to the personality and work of Mr Bonney.- Moreover, he was, as his son was after him, closely associated for some years in a junior position in the Middlesex Hospital, where Mr Bonney had done so much of his work, and lie could say that that hospital had had on its staff throughout a long series of years, dating back to 1745, a series of distinguished men—surgeons, physicians, and .others —whose names wer e very highly spoken of, and were written of in the literature of medicine to-day. If one asked a medical man who making u pilgrimage to England for post-graduate work, whose work he was going to look at, he would find nowadays with hardly

an exception that the reply would be: - “ I am going to the Middlesex and Chelsea Hospitals to gee Mr Victor Bonney at work.” Air Bonney had made his name famous in his own particular domain. Mr Bonney had made the acquaintance of a great many New Zealand graduates, and had referred to the high opinion he had found regarding them. The speaker said he could assure them that those who had been under the guidance of Air Bonney had the very highest opinion of-his work and hi s personal character as a man. The people in New Zealand felt very highly gratified that Air Bonney had managed to make time to come out to this country and give a helping hand in a great scheme of improvements in regard to obstetrics and gynaecology. Sir Louis said he could assure Mr Bonney that his work would bear great fruit "here. He had heard a great deal about the importance of the propaganda work which Mr Bonney had already done in New Zealand. In late years considerable efforts had been made in the Dominion to improve the position, particularly in regard to obstetrics. Of late these projects had hung tire somewhat, but the work which Air Bonney had already done had stirred up the smouldering embers, and he thought they were going to have a great increase in activity in this beneficent work. Mr Bonney had been very popular in his tour throughout New Zealand, and deservedly so. He had given an immense amount of time and energy to help them, and they had tried to give him as good a time as they could. Sir Louis said he hoped that Air Bonney would go back to England feeling that his trip to New Zealand was worth while, for the pleasure it had given him to impart so much pleasure and instruction to the people here. A very hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr Bonney for his splendid ad-' dress and for the good work he is doing for New Zealand as a whole.