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Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume V, Issue 1, 1 January 1912, Page 36

23 Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C., October 10th. Dear Miss Maclean, I am enclosing notices which you may find useful in advising nurses who wish to take their Central Midwives' Board Certificate in London, The two nurses who have this home are friends of mine. One is Miss Ostle, trained in England, and the other is Miss Margaret Brown, of Wellington Hospital, and who has worked in London as a Queens District Nurse for several years. The Home they have taken is charming, and pupils working with them would be very comfortable and enjoy the advantages of a retired home. Miss Ostle is a very clever coach and for nearly three years has been coaching the pupils at Myddletin Sq. Home, and had only one failure for the whole time. It may be a comfort to a New Zealand nurse coming Home to know of a satisfactory training home to go to and from where she could get her bearing of London and advice as to further work, and

both Miss Brown and Miss Ostle know London and its institutions well. Miss Dougherty, whom I frequently see and who is staying with friends in London, asks me to convey to you her most kind rememberances. With kind regards and greetings, believe me, Yours vSincerely, Amy Thomas. West London Maternity Nurses' Home. 11, Queen Street, Hammersmith, London, W. Pupils trained for Central Midwives' Board Examinations. Examinations every two months. Course of Training. — Three months in Home taking Practical Midwifery on District, under Midwives approved by the Central Midwives' Board. Lectures by a Medical Man approved by the Central Midwives' Board. Fees.— £16 16s. Od. for three months, including Board * and Lodging, Doctor's Fees for Lectures, and Midwife's Coaching. Laundry must be paid for by the pupils. Pupils required to have washing indoor uniform and outdoor uniform, and provide own district bag and requisites. Examination entrance fee, £1 Is Od. Pupils requiring a longer term of training can remain at the Home at a charge of £1 Is. per week. * * ❖ * Note.— While thanking Miss Thomas for her letter and information re course of training in midwifery, which to nurses visiting England may be of service, we cannot advise nurses to go in for such a limited course.' It is impossible in three months and doing district work only, to gain experience in this important branch of nursing, in which frequently the lives of mother and child depend on the midwife's recognition of and knowledge of the prompt treatment of complicated cases pending a doctor's arrival. In three months district work it is probable that a nurse may never see other than a normal case, and she is not taught the nursing care of mother and babe which is so important. Both in Australia and New Zealand midwifery and maternity nursing go hand in hand and the pupils in our hospi-

tals are carefully instructed in both, and by work and tuition inside the hospitals where the abnormal cases are treated as well as by district work. The course is comparatively long, being six months for certificated nurses and twelve months for others, but it is both thorough and practical. It is to be hoped that in the future the Central Midwive's Board may adopt the recommendation made by many experienced people giving evidence before the Departmental Committee in 1909, to lengthen and extend the course of training. — Editor.