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41-457: Each hospital catered for about 30 babies and 10 mothers. They were staffed by matrons, nurses, honorary visiting doctors and the Karitane nurse trainees. Until 1939 the services in Karitane hospitals were generally free, though some users did pay for care. The costs of running the hospitals were largely covered by the fees paid by Karitane nurse trainees. With the changes in health care instituted by

82-533: A Justice of the Peace to licensed baby-boarding homes where typical conditions moved him to establish such a boarding facility himself at his Karitane residence at the foot of Huriawa Peninsula . It is the establishment of the Plunket Society on 14 May 1907 for which King is best known. Set up to apply scientific principles to nutrition of babies , and strongly rooted in eugenics and patriotism, its 1917 "Save

123-542: A M.B. , C.M, and later completed a BSc in Public Health (Edinburgh). Although his interest was in surgery it was the demonstrations of Charcot on hysteria and neurological disorders that influenced his choice of career. While training in Scotland he married Isabella Cockburn Miller. Around 1904, King and his wife adopted the infant daughter of Leilah Gordon when Gordon's husband was sick, a decision that Gordon regretted for

164-584: A state funeral . Twenty years later, he was the first New Zealander to feature on a New Zealand postage stamp . His babycare method continued in popularity, finding favour in post-war Britain at least until the 1950s. It featured, controversially, in the 2007 Channel 4 documentary series, Bringing Up Baby , which compared it with the 1960s Benjamin Spock and the 1970s Continuum concept . Four streets in New Zealand are named after King: Truby King Street in

205-413: A generally strict regimen supposed to build character by avoiding cuddling and other attention. His methods were controversial. In 1914 the physician Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd Bennett publicly opposed his stance that higher education for women was detrimental to their maternal functions and hence to the human race. He also excited controversy during his efforts to export his methods to Australia, Canada and

246-569: A house and garden donated by W.D. Hunt . Although the local Plunket Society campaigned to keep it open the hospital closed in March 1980. In 1925 a public meeting was held to establish a Karitane Hospital in Wellington. Truby King donated two acres (three-quarters of a hectare) of his land in Melrose , where there was already a Karitane Products Society factory and King's house. £25,000 was raised. The building

287-476: A property was donated by A.C. Caughey, one of the founders of the firm Smith and Caughey's . It was a large house of 16 rooms in McLean St, Mt Albert . Fundraising in 1923–1924 raised the necessary £15,000 to adapt the house. The hospital was officially opened by the mayor, Sir James Gunson , on 16 October 1924 with more than 1000 people in attendance. At the outset the purpose of the hospital had to be defined. It

328-506: A training school for Plunket nurses. Plunket nurses had to be registered nurses or midwives but Karitane nurses did not. Plunket nurses could work in the community for Plunket or in Karitane hospitals while Karitane nurses worked as baby nurses in private homes. They were often in demand both in New Zealand and in Britain. After the war there was a shortage of nurses and many nurses left after training either going overseas or taking up positions in

369-408: Is on the heritage list held by Heritage New Zealand . The nurses' home was earthquake strengthened and used as housing. Montgomery Spencer (1893–1943) was honorary paediatrician from 1934. Truby King Sir Frederic Truby King CMG (1 April 1858 – 10 February 1938), generally known as Truby King , was a New Zealand health reformer and Director of Child Welfare. He is best known as

410-647: The New Hebrides (now Vanuatu ) and Fiji . The hospital closed on 20 November 1944. A proposal that the hospital become part of the Auckland Hospital Board was the subject of discussion by the government, Auckland Hospital Board and the Cornwall Park Trust Board. The Cornwall Park trustees had already objected to using the park for anything other than war purposes. It was agreed that the 39th General Hospital buildings would be made available to

451-583: The Seacliff Lunatic Asylum and as a lecturer in mental diseases at the University of Otago . At Seacliff he introduced better diets for patients, more discipline for staff and improvements to the hospital farm. The 'villa' style of treatment, with smaller and more open wards, was also one of his innovations. These reforms and King's own intransigence to those who opposed them led to a Commission of Inquiry, which completely vindicated his methods. Over

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492-562: The Babies" Week had the slogan "The Race marches forward on the feet of Little Children"., King's methods to teach mothers domestic hygiene and childcare were strongly promoted through his first book on mothercare, Feeding and Care of Baby , and via a network of specially trained Karitane nurses and a widely syndicated newspaper column, Our babies , written by King's wife Isabella. Apart from nutrition, King's methods specifically emphasised regularity of feeding, sleeping and bowel movements, within

533-803: The Cornwall Park Trust Board was required, under wartime regulations, to allow the United States Army to establish a hospital on 26 hectares of Cornwall Park. The 39th General Hospital was constructed quickly by Fletcher Construction, opening on 4 February 1943. The hospital consisted of 123 prefabricated buildings, 48 wards, clinic and surgery spaces, staff recreation halls and barracks. Over 1000 patients could be accommodated, and there were more than 60 doctors, 143 nurses and hundreds of auxiliary staff. Patients arrived in Auckland on hospital ships from initial treatment centres in New Caledonia , Espiritu Santo ,

574-607: The Department of Health and by 1925 also Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals. Until his retirement in 1927, he continued to develop and organise mental hospital services in New Zealand. His work was recognised by the award of a CMG in 1917 and a knighthood in 1925. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal . King died in Wellington on 10 February 1938. He was the first private citizen in New Zealand to be given

615-675: The Hospital Board for a period of six years, that no further buildings could be erected, and that the government would remove all buildings at the end of six years and restore the land. The Hospital Board, which was short of hospital accommodation at Auckland Hospital, was also required to keep up its building programme so that proposed hospital buildings would be ready for the closure of Cornwall Hospital in December 1950. The hospital remained open until 1975, housing maternity and geriatric units. Care of geriatric patients, and paupers, in Auckland

656-583: The Karitane-Harris Hospital after moving in 1910 to a home donated by Wolf Harris, a wealthy Dunedinite. It closed in July 1978. Anne Pattrick was matron in 1920. In 2011 it was reported that the hospital building, which had been used as a rest home and backpackers' hostel, was to be converted into apartments. In 2014 the refurbishment project received a grant from the Dunedin City Council. In 2015

697-530: The Labour government in the 1930s–1940s the hospitals' monopoly on caring for premature babies was lost. In 1939 (under the Social Security Act) treatment in hospitals became free and the Karitane hospitals were not permitted to charge fees, though the government did subsidise mothers and babies being cared for. By the late 1950s Karitane hospitals were facing financial difficulties and possible closure but in 1958

738-680: The Melbourne suburb of Coburg is now a heritage listed building. Cornwall Hospital Cornwall Hospital was constructed in Cornwall Park , Auckland , New Zealand during World War II by the American Army and was named the 39th United States General Hospital. It accommodated casualties from the war in the Pacific. From 1945 it was leased by the Auckland Hospital Board to provide maternity and geriatric services and closed in 1975. In October 1942

779-939: The New Plymouth suburb of Merrilands, Truby King Street in Rolleston, Truby King Crescent in the Dunedin suburb of Liberton, and Truby King Drive in Waikouaiti. Truby King Recreation Reserve: A public nature reserve located in Seacliff Truby King Park, in Melrose, Wellington, includes the Truby King Mausoleum. In Australia a number of maternal childhood centres in the 20's, 30's, and 40's were named after Truby King such as Coburg and Dandenong (both in Melbourne). One such centre, in

820-535: The United Kingdom, with particular debate associated with his views on infant feeding formulas. He believed in "humanized" milk with the protein reduced to 1.4% to match breast milk , against the general paediatric consensus at the time in favour of high protein feeds. The work of the Plunket Society was credited with lowering infant mortality in New Zealand from 88 per thousand in 1907 to 32 per thousand over

861-426: The financial stability of the Karitane hospitals. In 1978 it was decided that the hospitals would be closed and replaced by Plunket's family support units. The hospitals' running costs had increased, occupancy was not sufficient and they handled only 4% of Plunket's caseload. All the Karitane hospitals trained Karitane nurses, while Plunket nurses were trained only in the Dunedin hospital until 1964 when Auckland became

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902-932: The former Governor of New Zealand , William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket , invited Truby King to come to London to set up an infant welfare centre. It became the Babies of the Empire Society , later renamed the Mothercraft Training Society . Following the First World War he was one of the British representatives at the Inter-allied Red Cross Conference and travelled through Europe for the War Victims Relief Committee. Back in New Zealand, by 1921, King became Director of Child Welfare in

943-553: The foundation stone was laid in 1957 by the Governor General Sir Willoughby Norrie . The new hospital was opened on 14 June 1962 by the Health Minister Don MacKay . The old building became the nurses' home. In the same year the hospital benefitted from the increase in government subsidies to private hospitals, putting it in a better financial position. In the 1970s it was noted that the hospital

984-486: The founder of the Plunket Society . King was born in New Plymouth on 1 April 1858, the son of Thomas and Mary King. His brother, Newton King , was to become a leading Taranaki businessman. Truby King was privately educated by Henry Richmond and proved to be a keen scholar. After working for a short time as a bank clerk he travelled to Edinburgh and Paris to study medicine . In 1886, he graduated with honours with

1025-410: The government made emergency grants to keep the hospitals open. The 1959 Consultative Committee on Infant and Pre-school Health Services in New Zealand investigated Plunket and the role of and need for the Karitane hospitals. The Committee supported the work of Karitane hospitals and increasing government subsidies. The National government increased the subsidies to private hospitals in 1962 which helped

1066-464: The ground. In 1945 Cornwall Hospital was chosen as the site of an obstetrical unit until a new unit could be built. The first baby was born there on 9 June 1946 in the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Hospital, renamed National Women's Hospital in 1955. By 1963 it was reported in the newspapers that 50,000 births had taken place at Cornwall. In 1964 maternity and gynaecological care was transferred to

1107-499: The hospital had a high ratio of nurses to babies e.g. 18 babies and 16 nurses in 1926. In 1935 the hospital was renamed the Truby King Karitane Hospital in recognition of King's work for the Plunket Society. In the 1950s, due to the opening of Cornwall Hospital , Karitane was no longer the centre for care of premature babies. In spite of this and financial problems plans for a new Karitane hospital were begun in 1953 and

1148-636: The hospital, located in Every St, was listed as a Category 1 historic place by Heritage New Zealand. In 1917 the Lady King Karitane Hospital opened in Cashmere. A new hospital was opened in 1963 following funding from the government but it closed in December 1978. The Truby King–Stewart Karitane Hospital opened in 1919 in the former residence of John Stewart and his wife Frances . Moves to establish an Auckland Karitane hospital commenced in 1923 and

1189-539: The major Auckland hospitals. An unpublished personal account of the practice of geriatrics at Cornwall was written by Dr Newman, one of the Medical Superintendents. During the 1940s there were moves to establish an obstetrical and gynaecological hospital in Auckland, that could also serve as a post-graduate teaching hospital; notable doctors such as Doris Gordon , John Stallworthy , Robert Macintosh and Douglas Robb were instrumental in getting this move off

1230-522: The new National Women's Hospital building, adjacent to Green Lane Hospital . Dr J.J. Valentine was appointed Medical Superintendent in September 1945. He was succeeded by Dr J.A. Oddie in 1948. When Oddie left in 1949, to return to England, Dr S.C.W. Worseldine from Christchurch took up the position. Dr James Newman took over in 1952, where he established a reputation in geriatric care. He became Medical Superintendent of Green Lane Hospital in 1959. He

1271-540: The next eight years, King had interests in psychology , medicine, agriculture, horticulture, child care and alcoholism. He began to realise that principles of nutrition applied across many disciplines. He spent a winter in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War and returned with his dream clarified, having noticed how healthy infants were due to 12 to 18 months of breastfeeding . On his return he began to use his access as

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1312-545: The next thirty years, though it has since been argued that this was due less to its specific methods than to its general raising of awareness of childcare. King was appointed to represent New Zealand in 1913 at the Child Welfare Conference in London and was invited to assist in the establishment of a child public health service in Britain. In 1917 the former patron of the Plunket Society, Lady Victoria Plunket , wife of

1353-409: The nurseries in public hospitals where there were better employment conditions. Karitane training was initially 12 months but increased to 16. In the 1930s the cost of training was £40. A disadvantage of the training was that trainees saw only unwell babies. This was rectified by having some 'normal' babies at the hospital and by employing single mothers as domestic staff. This option for single mothers

1394-584: The rest of her life. The baby, named Esther Loreena, became known as Mary King. In 1887, while still in Scotland, King was appointed resident surgeon at both the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Glasgow Royal Infirmary . Returning to New Zealand he became Medical Superintendent of the Wellington General Hospital from 1888 to 1889. By 1889 he was in Dunedin as Medical Superintendent at

1435-465: Was a high turnover of matrons in the first few years, many of them working in other Karitane hospitals or in other nursing positions in Plunket. Some of the later matrons were Miss Sydney Lusk (1939–1945), Miss W.M. Slater (1945–1950), Miss A.M. Longden (1950–1951), Mrs M. Boyce (1951–1954), Miss K.B. Beuke (1957–1971) and Miss Lorna Leman (1971–1978). The Karitane-Hunt Hospital was opened in December 1926 in

1476-536: Was an alternative to adopting their babies out. In 1974, with changes in society, the training programme was changed to twelve months in the hospital plus six months in the community, in homes with Plunket nurses and in early childhood centres. The first hospital in Dunedin was opened by Truby King in 1907 in his holiday cottage on the Karitane Peninsula . It was called the Karitane Home for Babies but became

1517-599: Was designed by the architects Gray Young Morton and Young. The hospital was opened by the Duchess of York on 5 March 1927. Its official name was the Sir Truby and Lady King Karitane Hospital. A nurses' home building was opened in 1964. The hospital closed in July 1978. The hospital building, which was earthquake prone, was demolished in 2020. It was in private ownership despite being in the Truby King Historic Area which

1558-443: Was not a foundling hospital or a home for sick babies needing cures for infant diseases but for babies suffering from malnutrition or dietetic conditions. In the 1930s the Karitane hospital cared for all premature babies from Auckland and St Helens Hospitals . It assisted new mothers, especially helping them to breast feed, and ran a mothercraft home. Because it was a training hospital for Karitane nurses and cared for premature babies

1599-778: Was provided from the late 19th century at Green Lane in the Costley Home for the Aged Poor. In the 1920s the buildings were expanded and the complex known as the Auckland Infirmary. After the war Cornwall Hospital became the geriatric hospital for the whole of Auckland. In 1965 the first geriatric day ward in New Zealand was opened in a modified ward attached to the main hospital complex; it provided assessment and rehabilitation including physiotherapy , occupational therapy , speech therapy and social contact. In 1975 when Cornwall Hospital closed five geriatric units were attached to each of

1640-461: Was taking almost no premature babies or poorly fed babies but cared for babies who showed failure to thrive due to poor social circumstances. The hospital's services were free and many admissions came from underprivileged homes. The hospital continued to train Karitane nurses, and Plunket nurses from 1964. The hospital closed in October 1978, and the building was put up for sale. Dr William Henry Parkes

1681-492: Was the first senior medical officer from 1924 to 1933, followed by Dr Tracy Inglis (1933–1935), Dr Harold Pettit (1935–1950), Dr Basil Quin (1950–1973), Dr Alison Hunter (1973–1974), Dr Margaret Liley (1974–1978). Dr Edward Sayers was also on the medical team, handing over to Dr Alice Bush when he served in World War II. Bush worked at Karitane from 1940 to 1974 and became a paediatrician and family planning advocate. There

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