Native Maternity Maltreatment in Zululand

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XVII, Issue 4, 1 October 1924, Page 176

Native Maternity Maltreatment in Zululand

Miss McNeil, who was holidaying m Melbourne during the early part of 1923, sends an account of work done among the natives near her district — Durban. She herself is engaged m school nursing, and finds that co-operation by teachers is being given more willingly. The two dominant races — British and Dutch — arc gradually working together. She has nothing much to do with native nursing. According to the statistics of St. .Mary's Mission Hospital, Kwa Magwaza, Zululand, there is a large out-patient attendance. The most essential cases to be admitted are maternity and children's cases. Besides, hospital authorities examine and attend all the school children at the mission station, and visit the neighbouring kraals. This all gives the natives help m the way they most need. The procedure by the "medicine man" m a native confinement and the treatment of the newborn infant is this : — The native believes that the woman can, from (rear, stop the birth of her child or else that the child has grown to the side of the womb. The arguments are impressed upon their minds by their medicine men and "midwives," and because they believe this, they consequently interfere m the following way: As soon as a woman gets "warning pains " (as we know this is especially so with the first child) all the neighbouring women collect m the hut to help. The warning pains often come on a week or a fortnight before the due time and not knowing anything about "warning pains" the women will start helping at once. First of all they think the woman is frightened, and keeps the child back, so they try to force the birth by pressure, first with their hands and then with knees and feet applied to the abdomen. Sometimes the child is born alive after this, leaving the mother m a mutilated condition and sometimes due to the pressure by hands, knees and feet the child is born dead. In my experience (medical officer m charge) 50 per cent, of the first-horns die, due only to the help rendered by these women - — m absolutely normal cases.

If the child is not delivered after the above procedure, still worse treatment is resorted to. If she survives she is fortunate. This is what we want to work against m our mission hospital m Zululand. We want to do it through the natives with the natives. We have two native nurses at Kwa Magwaza, who, considering they have only been there a year, are xevy promising. Their 1 raining will be finished m two more years' time. We ought to have not two, but twenty, to send round to all the mission stations. Two more probationers are now going to be trained, but our aim is to get other women for a short training, say six or twelve months, so that they get our general idea of treating maternity and infants' cases. But these short-timed helpers cannot get certificates. All the same, they will go out into the district very much enlightened and will do valuable work. In fact, so will every woman who is confined m the hospital. Treatment of Babies. The next most important work we are doing m the mission hospital is the care of the babies. 1 will just state bow a new-born baby is treated. Before the mother can feed the child it is given sour milk, the idea being to give it a good opening and keep it alive until the mother can feed it. Tf the mother has been ill during the carrying of the child the native medicine men will not allow 7 the baby to suck at all. Tn this case the baby is fed on fermented mealie soup and sour cow's milk, which results m violent diarrhoea, more native medicine, emaciation of the child — and death. There is much more to say about this subject. It is interesting, m view of the suggestions voiced lately, to note that three years is regarded as necessary for a certificate. More especially will midwiferytrained nurses realise the assistance to be given by the short-trained helpers, uncertifieated though they be. Miss McNeil's address is P. 0., Box 90, Durban, S.A., and she welcomes letters from particularly her old war companions.—"Una-."