Dial a Family Friend: My Life as a Mothercraft Nurse

Copyright © 2012 Denise Latto

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Balboa Press rev. date: 08/06/2012

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Disclaimer

Introduction

Part One – the DAFFODIL Story

Chapter One My Arrival in Australia

Chapter Two The Growth of DAFFODIL

Chapter Three Ten Years of DAFFODIL

Chapter Four Working for MBHA

Part Two – Handy Hints in Caring for Children

Chapter Five Feeding for Infants

Chapter Six Baby Care

Chapter Seven Common Sense Care For Children

Chapter Eight Relationships, Responsibilities and Rewards

Chapter Nine Tensions and Stress

Chapter Ten Sleeping Difficulties for Children

Chapter Eleven Grandparents

Bibliography

About the Author

List of Illustrations

1 Clipping from News Review Messenger local newspaper10

2 Cover of brochure handed out to new parents13

3 Illustration 3 – Inside of brochure handed out to new parents15

4 DAFFODILS members February 198620

5 Display at the Paddocks House Health Fair30

6 DAFFODIL members 10 year celebrations with Alan Thompson47

7 Yours Truly at Salisbury Park Clinic 197950

8 Performing a hearing test Salisbury Park 198654

9 Sue N, Denise Latto, Ann F with DAFFODIL hand puppet67

10 Sleeping Patterns in Very Young Babies84

11 Building Bridges of Good Relationships120

12 Presentation of PSM medal to Sister Latto, 1994Rear Cover

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all volunteers who serve the community in some special way regardless of personal restrictions. Especially to Tarlee, who is now 34, and has dedicated her life to community service in the Salisbury area despite having a heart/lung transplant.

Tarlee, March 2012

Preface

DAFFODIL—Dial A Family Friend Or Dial In line—was born out of the necessity for supporting young mothers in the Salisbury Council area of South Australia in the 1980’s. It operated for a period of 10 years.

Recently I rediscovered documents and photographs relating to our lively and enthusiastic group of competent mothers, who formed this two-way communication network and having kept in touch with them, I suggested we all meet to discuss the possibility of publishing a book about our activities and achievements, to which they responded eagerly.

Greatly encouraged, I joined a Creative Writers Group at The Jack Young Centre in Salisbury for guidance and support with this important task.

I am proud to be part of this group and wanted to honour these mothers by writing about their service and achievements in support of parents in the Salisbury area and beyond.

At their request I have added the simple home remedies, recipes and practical ideas for bringing up children, based on experience and knowledge that I gave them when they came to my clinics.

Denise

Acknowledgments

Many people were involved with my attempts to write this book and its predecessor, ‘My Little Common Sense Book’. But for their help and encouragement, plus a few promptings to Get on with it! this project would never have come to fruition. I extend my sincere appreciation and indebtedness to the following.

Mr. Alan Thompson who designed the logo for our project.

Mrs Sue Hacking (Daffodil) for her delightful drawings and all past Daffodils for their loyal support.

Dr. G. Karunartna, my medical consultant at the time of writing the first draft, for his opinions, guidance and encouragement.

Dr. Paul Heyson, naturopath and homeopath consultant I attended for many years and from whom I learned so much, increasing my skills and knowledge in natural remedies.

My Superiors and Colleagues from C.Y.H. Child and Youth Health and Special Project Volunteers, whose expertise, support and acknowledgement brought great reward.

Ministers and my Church Family, the Salisbury Uniting Church and the Friday ‘Care and Share’ Group, for sharing my concerns and dispelling my doubts, through listening and prayer support.

Family, Friends and Neighbours. My sincere appreciation for their longsuffering patience, and acceptance of my pre-occupation and single-mindedness of purpose.

Mrs. Sydney Davies, for her time and expertise in typing up the first drafts, written in longhand over two years. I treasure her work still.

The late Mrs. Chris Hargreaves, Leader of The Jack Young Creative Writers Group. Who improved my writing skills far beyond my expectations and edited my work consistently and whose friendship I valued. Also members of the group, whose encouragement and support kept me going when I would have given up.

Gordon and Pam Oates, for proof reading, editing and keeping me generally on track.

Margaret Clark, for her excellent map of the Salisbury Council Area, showing clinic locations.

Salisbury Council and its various Committees set up to promote and support community needs, keeping their finger on the pulse of residents in Salisbury and offering grants in support of initiatives suggested by clubs and organizations, such as the D.A.F.F.O.D.I.L programme and for promoting writers and poets through the annual Salisbury Writers Festival.

Disclaimer

This book has been written to provide a guide for parents as well as recorded history that may be of benefit and interest to the reader. The information it contains is based on research, historical evidence, common practice of the time and the author’s own personal experience.

The diagrams and pictures shown in the book were taken or given to the author at the time the book was commenced. Permission was given for them to be used.

First names of people involved with the DAFFODIL Project have been used with their permission. Others have been changed to protect privacy, the reason being to honour family members, special volunteers and those who were involved with this project.

It is not the purpose of this book to represent or replace cultural beliefs and practices. Professional help is recommended. The author excludes liability in respect to any damage caused by reliance on or misuse of the material presented. Any errors or omissions within this book are therefore unintentional.

There is nothing new about the suggestions or recommendations made by the author; they were made in the belief and good faith that many past practices had merit. The publishers and author shall not be responsible to any person with regard to loss or damage directly or indirectly by information in this book.

Introduction

As a small child of 4 years of age in 1937 I was witness to cruelty, deprivation and the plight of disadvantaged people in Shanghai, where I was born. My loving parents were British and we lived in comparative luxury. The plight of those less fortunate than myself caused me such anguish and grief. I wanted desperately to help the deformed beggars, the destitute and homeless. My mother and father explained. That is how the world is dearest, you can’t change it. The seed of anger against injustice was planted within me.

Later when we returned to England I saw and heard about the devastating effects of guns and bombs during wartime; the huge craters where homes once stood; listened to the constant night-time sirens, gunfire, the hum of enemy aircraft and the scream of bombs while we huddled in shelters and tried to sleep. When relatives from London, 25 miles away, lost everything during an air raid and came to live with us while their menfolk were fighting in Europe, I felt so grateful that our family remained intact and we had all we needed, though there were constant fears for our own safety.

One night during a heavy air bombardment, I crawled out from our shelter and prayed. O God, if you let me live, I will serve you all my days. It was 1941 and I was 8 years of age. We were all spared and I am still working on the vow I made. To do my best to preserve human life and make a difference for the better for all people, children especially.

Some of my ideas did make a difference, but only with the help of others who saw my vision and carried the plans forward. Dial-A-Family-Friend-Or-Dial-In-Line, known as Daffodil, was my most successful endeavour.

This book is dedicated to those wonderful people who shared my vision.

Chapter One

My Arrival in Australia

I came to South Australia alone in January 1960 aged 26 years as a trained nurse on an assisted passage, courtesy of the Australian government. We were known colloquially as the ten-pound Poms, because of the amount we had to contribute to our passage—₤10. I was a single lass who had come to work in the operating theatres at the Children’s Hospital in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. Employment had been arranged before I left dear old England. It was my intention to return after completing the obligatory two years in Australia, exploring a land I had read so much about and wanted to see for myself. I also hoped to revisit China, where I was born, for the history of this nation fascinated me. But, like many British nurses I fell in love with and married an Australian a year after disembarking. My husband and I took our vows in the local Anglican Church on March 4th 1961. Our parents heartily approved.

In 1963 as a wife and mother moving into a new home in a developing suburb north of Adelaide, I empathised with the dilemma so many young mothers faced with separation from families and friends from across the seas to start their new life in some part of this great country, for I missed my mother, friends and siblings more than I imagined at this critical time of my life. Thousands of migrants from Britain and Europe were relocating their families to make a better life for themselves in Australia. Not all understood the language, but we all came with high hopes and expectations, just like the pioneers of yesteryear. We became known as ‘nuclear’ families.

Confronted with unmade roads and few facilities life was a struggle, establishing a home, caring for a family on one income, if you were lucky enough to find employment. We were fortunate, for my husband was employed by a large motor company and he owned a car. John worked at Woodville, near his parents and sister. When the company announced its intention to shift its factory from Woodville to Elizabeth we moved into our new home at Salisbury. Three other families were living in the street at that time.

Shopping centres, doctors’ surgeries, dentists, clubs and public transport came later. Fortunately I found it reasonably easy to reach out and make new friends. Not everyone can do this easily. Being a trained nurse and midwife certainly helped. However, there were times following the birth of our second child, 17 months after the first when I experienced acute loneliness. The other mother’s had family close by. John drove our old Holden Kingswood to work each day, often working overtime at the weekends to help pay our mortgage on the house. We had no extended family or friend support nearby and the nearest telephone was a public box at the end of a muddy graded road, which turned into a quagmire after rain, with trucks and builders bringing in materials for this new development.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I determined to accept the change and make the best of our situation. I made contact with our few neighbours and invited them in for a housewarming party. We soon became firm friends. Never the less, as time went by, I discovered I needed to find meaning and purpose in my life—apart from the fulfilment of being a fulltime wife, mother, home decorator and gardener.

Four mainstream Churches, plus the Mothers and Babies Health Association, catered to the wellbeing and health of residents in Salisbury. I became a member of one of the former and an employee of the latter, affording me a change in my career path as a registered nurse. But before this happened I discovered during a visit to the local pharmacist that the new hospital in Elizabeth Vale was short of midwives. From the telephone box down the street, I called the hospital and arranged with the Matron to work a couple of shifts once a week. Beth, one of my neighbours, offered to look after our children till my husband came home from work, an hour after I left. I bought myself a uniform and bicycle in preparation to start duties the following week. The hours were 4pm till 8.30pm Mondays and Tuesdays.

John was not happy about this when I told him my plans, as he insisted my responsibility was to stay home and care for our family. I decided to try working for a while and once he realised that