MORTALITY AMONG MOTHERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17216, 6 December 1923, Page 8

MORTALITY AMONG MOTHERS.

AN AUCKLAND WARNING. ill New Zealand is matter for grave concern for the State and the individual, says the Auckland' Herald,” in an editorial article. 'The . problem attracted attention in 1921 by the jjubl-i cation of statistics by the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department f»t’ Labour. These figures showed New Zealand in almost the worst position among the nations with regard to maternal mortality, while, at the same j time, the Dominion could boast the lowest -general and infant death rates in the world. So striking a contrast was not left without investigation, but, in spite of the recommendations of the special committee of the Board of Health made at that time, no great improvement seems to have been effected. At the moment, in fact, the public conscience of Auckland is more than ordinarily stirred at the deaths of several mothers irom sepsis. The reason is that deaths from sepsis are largely preventable, that they represent waste of mothers of the most essential component of the family and the nation. Nor is such wastage fully represented in the statistics. Many women survive the onset of sepsis, only to remain as cripples, physically, and as mothers barren. These facts are a call to action. In New Zealand, there is in such case an ineradicable tendency to look to the State for remedy, and from the Government may be asked several things. As the crux of the whole problem, more must be required of the midwife. A, higher standard of training is urgently necessary, training in theory, practical training, but especially a thorough grounding in the principles and practice of asepsis. Having thus secured a guarantee of knowledge and its application, the State should require it# maintenance through the agency of refresher courses, and, at both the probationary and the later stage, see that the training facilities are readily available. As for the medical profession, its members are generally agreed that students in their practical training have too little access to clinical material at Otago University. Such a fault appears easy of cure bv the use of the material available in the other thi*ee metropolitan While stricter standards in nursing and medical practice will go far to solve the whole problem, to safeguard the mother from variations in the human equation, the private hospital system requires drastic reform or replacement by institutions on the St Helens model, whether provided by the State. Hospital Boards or by private enterprise. The inefficiency of the small hospital unit must cease to be a factor operating against the safety of motherhood. While it is being superseded. a stricter inspectorate is immediately necessary to hold it to the highest aseptic standards of which it is capable. To effect these reforms, the support of public opinion is required, aud. given that, nursing, medical and institutional reforms will follow, to th2 benefit of the mother and the race.