ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 35

ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY.

OCCASION OF CONGRATULATION. St. Helens Maternity Hospital in Dunedin has been in existence for 25 years. It was in September, 1905, that the then Premier (Mr R. J. Seddon) opened the institution, when he stated that ite two objects were the training of midwives and nurses and the providing of a home in which, at a reasonable cost, mothers could receive attention at a time of trial. Other speakers to follow Mr Seddon were the Mayor (Mr J. Braithwaite) and Dr Emily Siedeberg (now Dr SiedebergM'Kinnon) . Miss Holford was the matron of the hospital at the start, with Miss Trott as assistant. Miss Holford was matron for 22 years, and. was followed three years ago by Miss Oppenheim, who is matron to-day. Miss Trott remained only a few months, and her successor was Sister Gow, who retired recently, her place being filled by Sister Watt. Dr Siedeberg was the medical officer when the institution opened, and she is in the same position to-day.

To mark the twenty-fifth aniversary a reunion of trainees and nurses was held at the institution on Saturday afternoon, when Dr Siedeberg-M'Kinnon was the hostess at an “at home,” at which the guests included medical men, ex-trainees, present nurses, and other friends of the hospital.

Addressing the gathering, Dr SiedebergM'Kinnon said that the hospital was opened in 1905 by the late Mr Seddon, his daughter (Mrs Bean) being also present on that occasion. She regretted that owing to the illness of Mrs Seddon, neither of her two daughers, Mrs Hay nor Mrs Bean could be present that day. but both of them had expressed appreciation of the work done in the hospital, and wished the nurses a happy reunion. Since ' the opening they had lost Mrs Grace Neill, the then director of the division of nursing, who helped to furnish the hospital, and remained a tower of strength to it for many years. Her successor, Miss Hestor M'Lean, had now retired, but was still keenly interested in these hospitals. Among the apologies for unavoidable absence were some from a number of ex-nurses now resident in the North Island and elsewhere, who sent their best wishes to Miss Holford, Sister Gow, Miss Oppenheim, and the staff. Mr Seddon’s object in establishing the St. Helens hospitals was to give a thorough training to New Zealand midwives, and thus enable mothers to reap the benefit of being nursed by welltrained nurses. Up to that time the only maternity nurses available were the “ handy ” women, who combined the duties of housekeeper and nurse. . They .worked under the immediate instructions of doctors, and, according to their degree, of experience, carried out their duties fairly satisfactorily. Since then, however, a much higher standard of knowledge had been required of them —a knowledge of anatomy, a knowledge enabling them to recognise when abnormalities r w ?. re present, and a working knowledge of the destructive powers of invisible germ .ite and bow to combat it. It was a great work that the late Mr Seddon established, and hie daughters might well feel proud oi it. No doubt this special training would have come in the course of a few years, but Mr Seddon’s mind grasped the need of it before there was any public demand, and carried it out. These hospitals had been a great boon to mothers of the artisan class. Government funds were at the back of the hospitals, and, although they might be run at a financial loss, she ventured to say that the infant and maternal life saved in these hospitals baa been a great asset to the country. — (Applause.) Further, the subsequent chronic ill-health saved to a mother when she was nursed with skilled attention was alone a matter of great importance. She wished to take that opportunity of letting it be widely known that maternity outfits could be sterilised at the hospital for any’ mother in Dunedin under the care of her own doctor for the small sum of 2s 6d. This should be availed of more than it. was. At the low cost of 30s a week the middleclass mother had been able to get the best of care and attention, and at no cost to the ratepapers. The speaker went on to eay that within about two years the St. Helens Hospital in Dunedin would be closed down for good, and a new hospital —-a combination of St. Helens and Batchelor hospitals—would be erected in its stead. At present there was a certain amount of controversy with regard to the site —London street or Cumberland street. She believed that a hospital in Cumberland street could be run much more cheaply than one that was aw’ay from the hospital, which was an important point to the ratepayers. The subject of the admission of students she would not touch on; it would be dealt with by others when the proper time came. The speaker went on to say: “On this, our twenty-fifth anniversary, I wish to pay a very warm tribute to the past and present staffs of this hospital. Miss Holford, the first matron, who started duties with myself, was out on her own as a most capable, lovable, and loyal officer. — (Applause.) We worked together for 22 years, and are stauncher friends to-day than when we first met. Sister Gow, who joined the staff as sub-matron within a year of the opening of the hospital, and remained with us for about 22 years, was an exceptionally efficient and loyal officer. Both ladies earned the love and respect of all their pupils, and I am glad to welcome them here to-day.— (Applause.). Our present matron (Miss Oppenheim) is a worthy successor.— (Applause.) In these hospitals, managed as they are without the medical officer being resident, a heavy responsibility falls upon the matron’s shoulders. She must be ready to cope with emergencies, and largely upon her efficiency of mind and steadiness of character depends the whole success of the hospital. I wish also to take this opportunity of paying public tribute to the worth of every member of the staff.”—(Applause.) The Mayor of Dunedin (Mr R. S. Black) said that the St. Helens Hospitals in the Dominion added lustre to the name of the late Mr Seddon,- who recognised, as long as a quarter of a century, ago, the importance of improving the conditions attending motherhood with a view to conserving the life of the nation. It was right That people should have families. If the present low birth rate continued in the world the white races would dwindle in number until the coloured people predominated. Those people who

would not slipport families were contributing to the decimation of the white races. Since the institution was opened 200 nurses had been trained within its walls, one of whom was Miss Bicknell (director of nursing), and 5000 young lives been ushered into the world under the best conditions—conditions which gave them a good start in life and fitted them to become, in their turn, the healthy parents of healthy children. Mr Black spoke of the patience and. kindness of the nurses and of the success of their work, and expressed the hope that the next hospital would, in the y’ears to come, do even greater things than St. Helens had done in the last 25 years.— (Applause.) Miss Holford said it was a great joy to her to meet again the ex-nurses and other friends, and she thanked Dr Siede-berg-M'Kinnon for giving them the opportunity of meeting. Miss Holford voiced the hope that St. Helens would be ’ the name of Jhe new obstetric hospital, and requested the Mayor any! others in authority to support her suggestion. The Mayor approved of Miss Holford’s idea.

Dr Russell Ritchie said that, on behalf of the Batchelor Hospital, he wished to congratulate Dr Siedeberg-M'Kinnon on the wonderful work she had done in the last 25 years. He added that he had been for 23J years in the Batchelor Hospital, the jubilee of which was now close at hand. — (Applause.) A feature of the period devoted to afternoon tea was the cutting of a birthday cake, illuminated with 25 candles