A new era for women's health in Western Australia

In 1909, some 400 members of 18 different organisations met in the Government House ballroom to discuss a proposed women's hospital 'for maternity cases'. It was a veritable who's who of Perth society, with 

The fiercest debate was produced by the proposal that the hospital be for married and unmarried women; the Anglican Bishop protested that the 'delicate sensibilities' of newly-married women would be harmed by the presence of pregnant unmarried women in the shared ward. Calling the atmosphere at the meeting 'extremely sultry', contributor 'Egria' wrote shortly after in The Mirror that 'if the

married women require assistance at

the hour of maternity, how much

more do the unmarried women ? The

latter are practically outcasts, and

in addition to the suffering common

to both—whether married or unmarried—the

latter have the load of

shame to carry, a much weightier

proposition than that of - mere

motherhood. proposed hospital - it was declared after vigorous debate - would be for both married and unmarried women alike.

 

The push for a publicly-governed maternity hospital occurred in the wider context of mounting concerns over the declining birth-rate, the struggle for universal suffrage, and the nationalism of Australia's Federation.

The oft-repeated claim that Australia needed to 'populate or perish' saw motherhood - or more accurately, white motherhood - become venerated in public discourse as the noblest feminine duty. One Western Australian commentator, writing in the Observer, proclaimed motherhood as a state 'that demanded special conditions and protection'. Prime Minister Fisher, speaking about the 1912 Maternity Allowance, drew striking parallels between the dangers of active duty and childbirth, saying that ‘Statistics show ... that maternity is more dangerous than
war’.

 In Perth, socially prominent members of the female-only clubs such as the Karrakatta Club and the Women’s Service Guild were particularly vocal in calling for measures to improve the life and lot of disadvantaged women and their babies. Their efforts bore fruit in the first decade of the new century, with the establishment of Silver Chain Nursing (1905), the Children’s Protection Society (1906), Children’s Court (1907) and Children’s Hospital (1909).

 However, at the top of the social campaigners’ wish-list was a public hospital for women and their infants, a thoroughly modern institution equipped with the latest medical advancements and staffed by well-trained and professional doctors and nurses. The hospital, its supporters envisoned, would offer greatest protection and advantage for ‘indigent women’, but women of ‘modest means’ would also enjoy care in such a medically advanced institution. In 1898 the Australian Trained Nurses' Association (ATNA)  was established, but as Western Australia had no teaching facilities for nurses, women had to train 'over east' or overseas. UNTIL THE END of the nineteenth centuries, obstetrics and gynaecology were held in lowly regard by the fledgling medical profession; no formal qualifications were required for those who attended women in childbirth.

The following year, it was decided that the future hospital be named after the recently-deceased sovereign, King Edward VII, and in 1913, frustrated by a lack of progress on the government's part, Edith Cowan proposed the former Government Industrial School as the site.

The hospital, declared ... 'service for humanity'.

 

 

the push for a women's hospital was twofold: to provide care for women in their time of need and to professionalise the field of nursing and midwifery. 

 

After many years of campaigning, broken political promises and the requisite bureaucracy it was with a sense of triumphal achievement that in 1916 Western Australia’s first government-owned women’s hospital was opened. Eleanor Harvey was the hospital's first matron in charge of the 20-bed institution. Under her management, there were 101 confinements cared for in the first six months. The hospital's first baby, sadly, was stillborn - the child's mother dying one week later.