Back=blocks District Nursing

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume IV, Issue 1, 1 January 1911, Page 30

Back=blocks District Nursing

The district nurse at Seddon (Nurse Warnock) has started her work there, and has been kept busy. Some extracts from a letter received will be of interest :—

" In the ' wee sma' ' hours of Wednesday morning I was awakened and informed that a woman at Cape Campbell lighthouse was m labour. The husband told me he would go for a trap and horse, and finally, after some delay owing to the horse being a ' jibber/ we started. It was a dark night, we had no lights, and an awful road to traverse, and a beast of a horse, but I was too anxious to reach my destination to feel nervous. Aftei travelling a long time we finally reached the beach where we had to unyoke, as the rocks were impassable. I was hoisted up on the horse, laden with midwifery bag and douche can, etc.,. and set off for an awful scramble of four miles though some of the beach was not bad travelling. I was astride a three-quaiter draught horse ; the stirrup-irons were too long, and the leathers too short, so I was, putting it mildly, not too comfortable, but I jogged on, arriving at the lighthouse about 4.30 a.m., to find a baby girl, who weighed barely three pounds had been born at 3.30. The baby was cold, and the mother was lying on piles of blue blankets from which dust arose m volumes, and which were saturated. She was pallid, for she was losing more than any case I had ever seen before. The uterus large and flabby ; the blood coming away m a stream, accompanied by clots. I massaged uterus without success, but managed to stop loss by long, hot douche, but not for some time. I had decided upon plugging, but fortunately it w r as not needed. There was no chance of a doctor as the tide had followed us, so no one could have passed even supposing there had been one nearer than 35 miles.

11 I was worried also about baby as she was so cold, but simply had to direct someone to put a hot bottle near her till I had fixed the mother up. Well, all is well that ends well. After getting things right with mother and child, I had to wash six blankets, besides sheets, etc., and to cook and clean. Two days later I got a woman from Seddon, and I was glad, as I did not consider I had done enough nursing. Then came the bother of the milk, for there was an enormous

quantity. It meant milking off continually. Baby after two days did splendidly. I had to give her brandy to start off, but she came on beautifully. I had to leave on the eighth day, but I and a friend are going down again soon for a day's picnic, and the baby will be christened then. In spite of the hard work I enjoyed the trip immensely. I am now doing Plunket nursing, as I have a baby of nine months suffering from rickets ; poor little creature ; it has done its 20 hours on boiled water, which followed on castor oil, and is now on a graded mixture of sugar solution and whey."

[The above gives a good picture of a district nurse's work. How fortunate for that mother and babe that an experienced midwife was at hand, or both would probably have died.]

The following extract from a letter from Nurse O'Callaghan, who took Nurse Bilton's place at Uruti will interest our readers. All cases are not quite so difficult to reach, but the necessity of being able to ride is certainly emphasised : —

(l I left New Plymouth at 7.10 on the Saturday, and arrived at Uruti about 12.30. The coach was packed, and the roads very dusty, and the tyres kept coming off the wheels, and had to be hammered on at intervals. I am staying at the school at present ; was there about five days when I came out here on the Moki Road, and here I am waiting for the arrival of a baby. I must tell you about the ride out. It is about seven miles from Uruti, and most of the road is only what they call a bridle track, and everything has to be packed out. One never sees a trap of any kind here. They put me on a quiet horse, and I can tell you I was nervous, as the read is only six feet m places, and then some of it has been washed away, and I'm sure it is not more than three feet m places, and m some places a drop of over 300 feet with a cliff just as high, and almost straight down with a river underneath. It is a most beautiful bit of scenery, but really terrifying to one who has not ridden there before, and to make matters worse it rained all the way out. I was sure my horse would slip over the embankment every minute, and we had to ford a

river too, but it was not so bad as it looked going down the bank to it.

" I arrived at my destination, which is a two-doomed whare, floored but not lined. There are three other children, a mother and father. ' They are very nice people, struggling on the land. One wonders how they have the courage to begin away out here with very little money ; and this is

where I will spend my Christinas, right m the heart of the bush. Ido hope everything will go all right, as it is a dreadful place to get a doctor I wish I could write an article for your nursing journal about the settlers away back here. One woman rode m fourteen miles (all this kind of load) to see me, she was not feeling well. She has no woman anywhere near her,"