Post Graduate Week and Midwives

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XV, Issue 4, 1 October 1922, Page 181

Post Graduate Week and Midwives

In "Maternity and Child Welfare" an interesting account is given of the Tenth Annual Post Graduate' Week, held at the York Road Lying-in Hospital. It is mentioned that this "is a brave attempt to meet the aspirations of midwives to keep abreast of the times. M The success of the various lectures held by the Medical Officers of the St. Helen 's Hospitals and by Dr. Truby King during this year show that out here too, although the number of nurses actually practising as midwives is small, i.e., without a doctor, yet the many women engaged m the care of maternity cases are keen to revive and extend their knowledge. If some such post graduate week could be instituted at the St. Helen's Hospitals and the Hospital Boards' training schools no doubt many would be glad to take advantage of attending. At two lectures given m July m Wellington by Dr. Truby King,, the lecture hall lent by the Red Cross Society was well filled by from eighty to one hundred women, who were much interested also m the methods of preparation of humanised milk, shown by Miss Patterson who was accompanying Dr. King, and m a demonstration of a cradle for premature infants heated by hot water pipes.

An interesting paper appears m "Maternity and Child Welfare," by the Mat-

ron of Queen Mary's Maternity Home, m which she emphasises strongly the need of longer and more comprehensive training. She says : — "It is being forcibly brought home to us that the present period of training is totally inadequate to prepare the pupil to meet the demands that will be made on her resources under present conditions. In ' a four or six months' course, the rush to cover the curriculum laid down by' the C.M.8., and to meet its regulations only serves to focus the minds of both teacher and pupil on the examination, instead of on the far more important point of preparing the pupil for her life's work. We want a longer period of training, so that pupils may have every possible chance of increasing their skill m diagnosis and delivery. This is essential if t bey are to be self reliant and successful m practice. 7 ' "It is certain that m the changed outlook, much more time must be given to the subject of ante-natal care and to the study of the baby than is possible under present conditions, Six months might with advantage be devoted to tjiis subject alone. 77 /This Matron goes on to further point out the great anomaly that legislation now prescribes a definite curriculum for Infant Welfare Workers during two years, while women can still be trained to carry out Ihe more important function of a midwife and one calling certainly for greater technical skill, m the short period of six months.