The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-13
NEW FIELD OPEN TO TRAINED AIDE
Shortage of Nurses, De- fnands for Services In-
 crease Opportunities

I4C yA CNo0AA46 HAON4OlAk VI 44ShoS- hold aid for the mother who re- turns home from the hospital with a new baby was discussed over Sta tion WTIC by Elizabeth 0. Wells, M. D., Child Hygiene Physician, in the State Department of Health's weekly broadcast.
 Many problems brought on by the war have been handled through volunteer aides but this field of activity has as yet been untouched, said Dr. Wells, except in the in- stances where kind neighbors have taken a hand. Dr. Wells presented a true to life picture of what goes on at such a time and all the impli- cations of family adjustments to the situation.
 The first night is a nightmare to the mother as the. baby claims the center of the scene and may scream all night. Morning finds the mother exhausted. but the baby takes this time to sleep on. At this point 8 telephone call announces that the help from one of her relatives is not to materialize as there is sick ness in their home. Although she should stay in bed for several days, the new mother finds 1t necessary to go to the kitchen to struggle with baby's formula and wash; since the baby comes first, she is apt to ne- glect her own meals ard her break fast may consist of nasty cup of coffee.
 If she lives in the district where there are public health nurses, she will get some help since these nurses may have been notified by the phy- sicjan that the mother needs help in adjusting to the new home re- gime. However, more babies are being born, so the nurses may not be able to get around to all the homes where help is needed. Now this is where the volunteer helper would come in. Under the super vision of the nurse a volunteer ot the right sort would De able to give more time and be of more real as- sistance in this time of need. She also would relieve the nurse to give expert care to a larger number of mothers.
 Nurses aide training or home hygiene course with some additional training would fit volunteers for working under the supervision oi the public health nurse. Nurses aides are helping greatly in hos pitals, but as yet there are not enough to meet both hospital and hame needs. While the nurses aide or perhaps neighbor who has had same home hygiene and some add1- tional training, could if available, help the nurse with the care of the mother and child the most ur- gent need is volunteer who will roll up her sleeves and go to work on the dishes, the family washing or some good plain cooking. While the physician and the nurse have the responsibility of the health of mother and child, there must be some one to see that the mother is fed three good meals a day and i that she is not too heavily burdeEed too soon. For the first few days the volunteer should carry the full load, but as the mothers strength returns she can take over one task at a time until she is able to shoulder the entire burden alone.
 Such line of duty is commensur- ate with other equally patriotic war time activities; all are working to- gether to maintain the health ot our future citizens. Retired and [ inactive nurses could held in this field by taking refresher courses to Y, qualify them for teaching classes of women who would have a few hours to give to meet this essential l need. l