PLUNKET SOCIETY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20054, 11 March 1935, Page 12

PLUNKET SOCIETY

MEDICAL ADVISER’S VISIT ADDRESS AT GERALDINE A large number of mothers and friends of the Geraldine branch of the Plunket Society were the guests of Mrs J. Mowbray Tripp, past president of the branch, in St. Mary’s Parish Hall, Geraldine, on Saturday afternoon, in order to meet Dr. Martin Tweed, medical adviser to the Society. The president of the branch, Mrs J. W. Davison, and members of the executive committee were associated with Mrs Tripp. Lord Bledisloe’s Tribute . Mrs Tripp, who introduced Dr. Tweed, expressed great pleasure at his visit, which the mothers and friends of the branch greatly appreciated. Mrs Tripp, in emphasising the necessity of regarding the Plunket Society’s work from a national point of view, quoted from the r Idress by the GovernorGeneral, Lord Bledisloe, at the last general conference of the Society, when his Excellency stated: “It is now 27 years ago that the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children was formed, as the result of the research work, the courageous enthusiasm and the convincing evangelism of Sir Truby King, aided by his late devoted partner, Lady King. Since then the progressive development of this life-saving movement, at first in Hew Zealand, and subsequently throughout the whole English-speaking world, may, without exaggeration, be described as phenomenal. It will be for history, with more accurate perspective than present propinquity of time and place permits, to assess fairly and precisely the debt which humanity owes to the so-called Plunket movement. In the meantime, it would surely not be an extravagance of speech to say that there is no movement in the world to-day which is contributing more to the physical well-being of humanity, and no living man who has done more for child welfare, and consequently for raising the standard of human physique, than your distinguished fellow-countryman, Sir Truby King. (Applause.) . . . The time will assuredly come when, with clearer vision than the world possesses to-day, it will be universally recognised that the unemployables, the degenerates, the work-shy, aye, and the incorrigible cranks of the world owe their depressing abnormality, and the heavy public burden which their condition involves very largely, perhaps preponderantly, to prenatal or infantile mismanagement arising from maternal ignorance or neglect.” Continuing, Mrs Tripp remarked that Dr. Tweed had a very difficult task to follow in Sir Truby King’s footsteps. Sir Truby was a great man and a great teacher, and it would be far from easy to follow in his steps. However, the Society would stand loyally behind Dr. Tweed, and with the organisation which had been built up, they would not fail. The eyes of the world were upon New Zealand, which held the proud position of first place in the world in connection with infant welfare. Mrs Tripp wished Dr. Tweed a cordial welcome and Godspeed with his work for the mothers and babies of New Zealand. (Applause.) Dr. Tweed’s Address In reply, Dr. Tweed said that he was completely bereft of words, and he could only feel his way along by thanking them for their hearty welcome. He felt how little the welcome was deserved because of the difficulty, in any way, of succeeding such a man as Sir Truby King. Sir Truby combined the capabilities of many different men, and it was impossible that anybody could be termed Sir Truby’s successor. The most the speaker could do was to maintain the edifice he had erected, and to see that the ideals he had followed were kept ever to the fore, and that the Society’s aims were continued for the benefit of future generations. In referring to the great interest of the people of Geraldine in the work of the Plunket Society, Dr. Tweed remarked that it was a tribute both to the idealism of the committee and its leadership, and to the soundness of the ideals and ideas upon which the work of the branch had been carried on. Possessing the co-operation of such a dynamic personality as Mrs Tripp, the branch could not fail to succeed. The officers of the branch were whole-heartedly devoted to the work, and if they maintained the standard set by the present committee, their work would continue to spread. Dr. Tweed paid a tribute to the tasteful arrangement of the Geraldine Plunket rooms, remarking that he had been charmed with the general scheme and the flowers. Sir Truby’s idea had always been that motherhood was worthy of the best, and that the Plunket rooms should be beautiful to the eye and thus rest the tired mind. Continuing. Dr. Tweed remarked that the primary idea of the Plunket Society was to teach the importance of the natural feeding of infants, and its chief plank had always been that every mother should feed her own offspring. The work at Geraldine was typical of that going on throughout the whole country. The fact that 95 per cent, of all the births notified in Geraldine in one year were still under the direct supervision of the Plunket nurse showed the value of the work the Society was doing, and of the remaining five, three babies had been taken to Ashburton where their homes were, and there had been good reasons why the remaining two babies had not attended the Plunket rooms. He had been reminded of a large branch at Central Otago, where the nurse had said that all the babies were under the care, with the exception of six. but she knew all about those. (Laughter and applause.) Natural Feeding Primarily, continued the speaker, the Plunket nurses’ mission was the maintenance of health, rather than being concerned with the cure of sickness, which was referred to the members of the medical profession. They would only progress along the lines of close co-operation and ever better cooperation between the doctors and the

nurses. Before starting his great work Sir Truby had spent years and years in patient research, and then he commenced to instruct the public in the better management, feeding and care of babies. With the idea of investigating all criticisms levelled at the Society and to scrutinise all modern teaching and to ascertain what would be to the advantage of mothers and babies, and to indicate when improvements should take place, a medical advisory committee had been formed, which was doing valuable work. Dr. Tweed then stressed the importance of natural feeding, and also dealt with artificial feeding. Investigation by holders of the Lady King Scholarship and an inspection of the Society’s records showed that perfectly nourished children could be. and indeed almost invariably were produced by strict following of the Society’s standards and methods. Dr. Tweed concluded by referring to the birth of quadruolets at Dunedin, remarking that the mother had said that they would be all right as they were in the care of the Karitane Hospital, which was indeed a comoliment to the Society’s work. The president of the branch (Mrs J. W. Davison) then expressed the anpreciation of those present to Dr. Tweed for his address. A dainty afternoon tea was served, Dr. Tweed being introduced to the mothers and inspecting the babies with interest.