FOR THE SAKE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13791, 26 October 1908, Page 4

FOR THE SAKE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

THE NEW PLYMOUTH BRANCH OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE HEALTH OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

OBJECTS.

1. To disseminate accurate information ori matters affecting the health of women and children by means of lectures, demonstrations, pamphlets, correspondence, teaching in the home, and otherwise. •> To uphold the Sacredness of the Body and the Duty of Health -, to 111culcate a lofty view of ! the^esponsibi 1- - ties of maternity and the duty of e^ei j mother to fit herself for the perfect fulfilment of all the ,natural cails <v motherhood both before and after childbirth . 3. To provide for the_ analysis or milk, both human and prepared. # 4. To provide for the analysis ot ready at any time to give advice and instruction to mothers; in the home or elsewhere, with a view to conserving the health and strength of the rising generation, and rendering both mother and offspring hardy, healthy and resistive to disease. 5. To promote legislative reform in matters pertaining to the health of women and children. 6. To co-operate with any present or future organisations which are working for any of the foregoing or cognate objects, such as: —

The Sisters of the various Church organisations and religious orders. j St. John's Ambulance Society. The Society for, the Protection ct Women and" Children. ,

7. To investigate the conditions.under which waSfs and^trays are at present kept, especially during the first twelve months of life, and as far as possible to make provision for their proper care where they are found to be improperly housed or treated: — (a) By getting them placed in suitable private houses under the care of women not . dependent solely upon the fees received. (b) In cases where proper provision cannot be made as- above indicated, to provide suitable temporary accommodation * and nursing at the Society V expense. . ,

OUR BEST IMMIGRANTS.

In the next eleven years , about 250,000 (a quarter of a million) children will be horn in New Zealand.

BABIES BORN HEALTHY.

Almost every new-born babe is capable of living 1 - and doing well if properly treated, but owing ,to ignorance and neglect of health and propel attention nfost of our mothers and t babies are not as strong and well as they should be; a very large proportion of the babies suffer from diarrhoea and malnutrition which handicaps them for , the rest' of life, and nearly Jwd thousand die eyery year. It is safe to say that this, .death ra^e, can,,, be, reduced toTess than a half % sample I , "practical instruction of the mothers in their homes by means of a compet^nv trained nurse. The first essential js that women should be .taught in ( a 'simple practical way tEe laws land, needs, of fife in respect to fresh air, suitable food, regular exercise, clothing', etc.

THE PLUNKET NURSE.

The Plunket Nurse would prove here as she is proving, elsewhere in Hevr Zealand an equal boon, to mother, .and child. ' The Society for >#he Promotion of the Health of Women and Children trusts to receive the sympathy and practical support of the whole- community. Every woman should become a member.

ASSETS VERSUS LIABILITIES*

Every healthy young adult is worth over £300 to the country. Every unhealthy wastrel ' and dependent who 4 has to be kept Tby the public is" a grave liability instead, pf being an asset. ' 'There are, for instance,, at the present moment many insane persons and other unfortunates who have cost the Dominion from £500 to . £1000 each in maintenance, which sometimes extends over an unbroken period \of half a century. Our hospitals alone are costing us over £200,000 a year. We want to prevent pur normal assets from continuing 'to be converted through ignorance" and neglect into grave liabilities. The sickness and , debility of babies is due to mere ignoranoe, rarely to intentional neglect or cruelty.

ILL-HEALTH LIFE'S MAIN HANDICAP,

The main cause of submergence and failure in the battle of life is illhealth. Our expenditure on hospitals and charitable aid will keep on growing as long as we continue rearing and educating the race in ignorance and indeed in defiance of the^priinary laws of Nature. In some respects "we want to be more simple and primitive and we want to get back nearer to Nature, while in other respects we need "to avail ourselves more and more fully of the knowledge of the simple laws of healthy living as a patient scientific research has revealed them to us during the last half century. If man would make use of the precise knowledge and power he has acquired in respect to- what is needed for the health of human beings, as he is making use of similar knowledge'in the perfecting of plants and animals, .there would be no ground for the setting up of further commissions to enquire into the causes underlying the recognised tendency to degeneracy on the part of civilized mankind. With all our advantages in the present day the human race should unquestion- , ably be advancing not falling behind. The first step in the line of progress must be a general recognition of the

DUTY OF HEALTH

and the promotion .iij particular of the Health of Women ana Children. WE GET WHAT WE DESERVE. Every country has just as many unfortunates , invalids, and criminals as it deserves, noK more! "111-health means unemployableness ; unemployableness means morbid thought and feeling, and morbid thought and feeling mean loafing,/vice, and crime." OUR BEST IMMIGRANTS ARE THE BABIES.