Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-04-04
BABIES
RIGHT START
~ DR. =. TRuBY KING

Wossd,s Foremost Baby Saving Expert
-sslNhe4ss&he menace to ouranAnona4
existence which, described in my pre-
ceding article first Get me at work
seeking atremedy j realized that q
crux o. the problem lay in the health
Of our hAbiss.
Special study and an intimate inter-
est in farm and garden crops had
long since taught me that evorytnin9
depends upon the care OF h young
plant. If the nursery 10 t9ood-i the
seed has the right start; II the tender
young plant is given proper care|
sturdy crop IL SURE under reasonable
conditions a. to soil and climate.
The stock raiser will tell you the same
thing. The prenatal period, ena the
first four or i've months OF the calfs
life after birth. determine the whole
future; and the best aftercare AND at
tention will fail to make . good beast
out of n that has been badly treat
! ed before and Immediately after Hrth.
But with . healthy. well-careds Q
young animal you are eure OF q mt
and valuable member OF the herd
such animals can fend for themselves
for the rest Of their lives n neither
defect of growth nor disease Will be
feared.
The same thing Is true Of babies.
Give them the right start and the rest
is practically certain. But the
knowledge which the world wa be-
coming wise enough to apply 70 ,asrt-
culture and stock raising had hardly
been applied at all In connection with
This most valuable crop in the world
our babies.
publicly to proclaim these truths
throughout New Zealand I was often
met with the assertion that We need
not take the situation SO seriously In
our country. We already had one OF
the lowest child death rates In the
world. Let other countries where In
fantp4nortality was high take up the
problem, I vas told. It need not
worry US here. But, i answered. no
child death rate can be. too low. ana !
added thai any death rate at all over
8 per cent is>too high.
And my plea was that q widely
diffused knowledge n recognition OF
infant requirements and maternal
duties would save our country at least
one life a day. This figure has proved
to be much under the mark. But out
OF New Zealand's then population OF
1900. 900 surely the saving OF even
II life a day was we'll worth while.
Gradually the most able and earn
est people Of the community rallied
to our cause. Lord and Lady Plunket.
Lord Plunket then being governor OF
New Zealand. lent us their hearty
support. issuing a pamphlet In which
they appealed to all classes to join in
the society's work ':for the sake OF
and children, for the advance
ment Of the Dominion. and for the
honor of. the empire"
Thus, our Society for the Health
OF :Women and Children was launched.
Lady Plunket. identified herself with
the cause in the most 'whole-hearted
and practical way, giving lectures,
demonstrations, and personal help to
mothers and babies. In appreciation
Sof her work the nurses Of the society
are"still known as '"Plunket' nurses
and the short title OF our Royal New
Zealand Society for the Health OF Wo-
men and Children is simply the
"Plunket Society,"" "
= From the start it vas essentially a
volunteer organization, but the society
soon received the cordial support and
cooperation of the government and of
! the municipalities who, for instance,
! granted as the use, Of rooms in public
buildings for our meetings and for the
use of our nurses. The government
also saw that they had free passage
over the railways and street car lines
AS a government official as we'll az
president of the society I served as q
sort Of Inspector general, linking @tht
two together, In recognition of thu
society.sy. vital services to the com
munity, the government oon began t.
grant it small subsidies towards thu
salaries and expenses of the nurses