Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 25, 1972, Winnipeg, Manitoba Omen s Friday february 25, 1972 Roland Aii Chenek Iode North nursing stations get incubators by Susan Becker Ottawa up one night about a year ago a Prema Ture baby was brought to the nursing station at Watson Lake in the Yukon. In the populated areas to the South it would have been put in an incubator but none was available in the isolated station and the infant had to be fed oxygen through a Fine tube through its nose and. Kept warm with hot water bottles before it could be flown South. The situation was not new. The need for More incubators for nursing stations in isolated Northern communities had become apparent in re cent years through a study of infant deaths occurring before 28 Days of life. Statistics show that first and fifth babies Are the ones most usually Prema Ture. But the situation was differ ent to this extent the baby was seen by an important visitor mrs. Roland Michener wife of the governor general. Her excellency soon found a Way to express her concern. In november 1970, she wrote the National president of the Imperial order daughters of the Empire about the Inci Dent. Mrs. Michener honorary president of the order suggested that should any Chap ters be interested in providing incubators medical equip ment or supplies for Northern nursing stations she would be Happy to hear of it. The need in the North is very she wrote. Most of the medical stations Are manned Only by nurses and there Are few the organization one of. Whose Aims is to provide serv ice and welfare for those in need promptly took up the idea. There were incubators at that time in several North Ern Nurs Irig stations and the Federal and territorial medi Cal services were trying to Supply More. But the Iode Reab Zed. That if incubators could be provided As soon As possible to All nursing stations requiring them government funds would be released for other necessary medical equipment. Officials of the organization consulted the commissioners of the Northwest and Yukon territories As Well As health authorities. It was assumed the plan would take two years. But the voluntary organization draw ing on its chapters from coast to coast had 16 incubators on their Way for delivery within three months. Incubators costing each were sent to such places As old Crow Haines Junction Gjoa Haven and fort Resolution. At Lake Harbour Grise fiord and Belcher Island n.w.t., the new incubators accompanied units for travel Ling nursing stations which follow nomadic or migrating Eskimo communities. A special incubator costing was sent to the fort Rae n.w.t., clinic for use in transporting babies to Hospi Tal. Mrs George e. Tait of to Ronto Iode National presi Dent recently visited Watson. Mrs. Michener noted the need for incubators discovered that an Bator provided by the order had helped save a baby s life Only two weeks earlier. Mrs. Tait says that because of mrs. M i c h e n e r s keen awareness of the premature baby problem and the order s action confident that the Neo Natal mortality rate in the North of Canada will be h. B. Brett the health department s director of medi Cal services for the Northern Region Calls operation incubators an overwhelming Suc Cess. There is a continuing High rate of premature births in the North and it could very Well be that when our 1971 mortality statistics Are com piled a decrease in Neo Natal death before 28 Days of life will be he says. If this is the Case we could honestly assume that the improvement could be at least partially attributed to the figures for 1970 from Statis tics Canada show that the Neo Natal mortality rate for Canada As a whole was 13.5 deaths per live births. For the Yukon the rate was 28.8 and for the Northwest territories 20. 9. However these figures m u s t be interpreted with some caution says an official. Registration facts from North Ern areas did not appear Al ways completely accurate. James Smith commissioner for the Yukon praised the or Der s contribution and said several premature babies have already been flown in incubators from outlying areas to the Whitehorse Gen eral Hospital. The Iode which Hopes to put More incubators where the North found the project spawned other work. Now it is providing five radio stereos to Yukon nursing stations to facilitate communication Between patients and their families and help relieve the loneliness of Eskimo and Indian patients. By june 225 layettes will be shipped to hospitals in Imi Vik Frobisher Bay and Churchill. Canadian Day care gets abysmal9 Label abortion Law re urged by is. Grant by Rosemary Bolton Lorna Grant left Toronto two weeks ago with in her pocket and a Cross country tour ahead of her. Is. Grant coordinator of the Ontario women s abortion Law repeal coalition ended her tour in Winnipeg thursday eve Ning when she spoke to 30 per sons at the University of Winnipeg. Addressing abortion Law re peal coalitions in Winnipeg Vancouver Victoria Edmon ton Saskatoon Regina Toron to Montreal and Halifax As Well As University Campus gatherings along her route is. Grant stressed objectives of the movement was to bring about repeal not liberalization of existing restrictive abortion Laws. Her tour was financed through donations from coalition members and Campus collections. Under the present Laws a woman seeking an abortion other than through a therapeutic abortion committee of a hos Pital is considered a Crimin Al and if prosecuted could be jailed for up to two years is. Grant said. Hospitals Are not required to establish therapeutic abortion committees and Only one third of Canada s hospitals have such committees she said. Quotas Are frequently established by the hospitals to control the number of abortions performed. This places further restrictions on the woman who needs an abortion promptly she said. Consequently is. Grant said women Are at the mercy of the existing abortion Laws unless they can afford to travel out Side the country. Abortion is a purely medical procedure and should be treated As such. No one has the right to Tell a woman she has to Bear a is. Grant said. Only the Mother in question can decide whether she is emotionally and financially Able to have a child and she has a right to make that decision is. Grant said. To emphasize the need for re peal of abortion Laws is. Grant referred to recently controversial Case in Ontario where the supreme court served an injunction on a que Bec woman who had received approval for and was in Hospi Tal about to have an abortion. The injunction which was to prevent her from having the abortion was issued on behalf of her husband and the infant plaintiff the fetal the in abortion Junction was later withdrawn i if of Toronto of 30 persons ovo Nino Ita Fonty of i Ripoff of urge of con oops abortion tows. Is. Orono has own fit who for of action and Jav Porf for Hor most Mon. In Edmonton students voted 80 per cent in favor and the but for reasons not disclosed the woman decided to Bear the child. Is. Grant said David Dehler attorney for the woman s Hus band and a member of Alliance for life an anti abortion group was using this Case As a springboard out attack right to abortion. To launch an All on every woman s slated saturday of crafts speeches Twat special interest Aad discuss was m a Fol be Fri Dafid a a car Fence Aad Coffee for Wias Peg rangers As Long As Laws pertaining to the criminal there Are going to be women in Canada who building office space and highest percentage in favor 95 washrooms per cent was voiced by medi Cal nursing and Law students she said. At Carleton University in Ottawa and York University in Toronto students were 75 per cent in favor of repealing the abortion Laws she said. Is. Grant stressed that a coordinated professional Campaign must be continued to re Ferenda circulated on bout repeal of the free child care starts monday by Jocelyne Soui Odre a Day care Centre with a Dif Ference is slated to open Mon Day. Located in the North Winnipeg Community action Centre building at 387 Dufferin Avenue the Centre will take children whose mothers work in the Home. That s right House wives. And it s free. Joanne Eilers one of the two women staffing the Centre said in a Telephone interview it will operate under an Grant from the Cabinet committee on health education and social planning. The Grant for a year s fund ing which includes for initial setup of the Centre will pay two salaries that of miss Eilers and Linda Fougere and pay. Operating costs. Elaine Mcleod Early child Hood services coordinator for the planning and research Divi Sions of the Manitoba depart ments of education health and social development said in a Telephone interview the Grant is on a one year experimental basis. She emphasized that although staff costs Are. Paid by the Grant receiving it was conditional on having space and equipment. The Community owns the action Centre she said and is supplying rent equipment administration and students to help in food preparation. In that Way mrs. Mcleod said although parents sending their children to the Centre Don t pay a certain amount per Day they Are involved the Community had to work at it to get the miss Eilers said students from r. B. Russell vocational school enrolled in the institutional course will help out with cooking at the Nursery. An action Board from the Young men s Christian association will act As administrators of Centre and handle Finan Cial matters she said. Ten children have already been accepted at the Centre but up to 20 will be taken 9 . To 5 . Mondays to Fri Days. Facilities include a Large room on the third floor of the 10lmu vvbh4 miss Eilers said mothers it duty is it gent of hit chapter said. Abortion Laws is. Grant i peal coalitions will gather in Winnipeg March 18 and it for Canada s first National Confer ence to plan the Campaign. Campaign strategy will be mapped out to take into Enton an approx Tsig Federal a Wiater Dearance sate Wii exec Tina is. Grant said. Approximately j. D. Hedtky is 1s72 re gent of the Canadian fliers chapter in Winnipeg of the Imperial order daughters of the Empire. Mrs. J. G. Sta tank is Firat Vic Ejot. Mrs. D. Tom. And mrs. U. 0. Brnik flow two re. At the chapter s awol meeting at the j Winnipeg Wojner pm stated e chapter on saturday working in the Home need Day care As much As women who work outside the Home. Day care is a Community thing she said and it is hoped senior citizens who also make use of the building will come Ottawa up Day care in Canada for pre school Chil Dren is in limbo says or. James Gripton of Carleton University s school of social work. In a study commissioned by the Canadian Council on so Cial development he said the Standard is far below that of similar programs elsewhere including the soviet Union and China. The National Survey of Day care services was federally financed and shows he said that Canada s existing pro Grams might Well be called non Day care. Abysmal was his word. Soviet and chinese programs were rated tops in availability program Content Quality of facilities and equipment and staff training. European programs fell Short. Well have a Long Long Way to go to really serve the total development needs of the said or. Gripton. One of the most apparent failings of Day care in Canada is its Scarcity the study said. Data collected in 1968 and 1969 said that in those years an estimated children were enrolled in some Type of licensed pre school program of them in full Day pro Grams. In mid-1968, the estimated number of children Between infancy and seven years in Canada was it s Clear that Day care serves Only a very Small pro portion of working mothers Only three per cent of them had children enrolled in full Day it is True the study re ported that enrolments Are increasing. But the growth Factor itself is slow and while several new centres have opened since the study was done Many have simply cancelled out the Clos ing of others said or. Grip ton. Another finding was that the smaller the Community the smaller the Chance of finding Day care. Canadian communities of to accounted for Only two per cent of the Day care centres surveyed and one Quarter of these communities had no Day care at All. The most serious obstacle to improving Day care programs James Gripton reports on National study in Canada is poorly qualified staff or. Gripton said. Although teachers in on Tario were found to be considerably better qualified the National educational level was Low. The majority of Ontario teachers had taken pre school education courses but Many had had no Post secondary education. Two thirds had taken a few child development courses. We need stiffer training requirements. Right now they re very How do the provinces com pare Ontario boasts the Best Day care centres the study said. The Western provinces came next but Quebec and the Atlantic provinces lagged far behind. A third problem that must be faced the study said is provincial legislation. Legislation governing care the study explained is generally fragmentary with Legal Odds and ends scattered throughout in numerous acts. Ontario again was an exception. Its Day nurseries act was in the forefront on this Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia also had comprehensive acts. Newfoundland had no legislation at All. Quebec was planning legislation. But even the Ontario act did t provide for sufficient government funding of Day care programs the study said. Only with sufficient capital was there Hope of More and better Day care centres into the Centre and play with Delsey boutique bathroom tissue hour of Pink Blue i Gold two Sofii now Pike. Kleenex towers Cut of of my to Kitchen to to Spock. Low Price kleenex boutique tissues Pink blow Gold Avocado now Price Rand Ali pust1c strips dust a psf. In a Price Modess napkins now Price creat body jurors fabulous per Tom ilm for 7 m. 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