Maternal & Child Health Centre

In 1914, 2835 babies died before their first birthday in Victoria.[i] A committee of medical practitioners recommended that baby clinics be established in Victoria in 1916. But it was Dr Isabella Younger (later Ross) who, with three friends, established the first voluntary Baby Health Centre in Richmond in 1917, buying a set of scales and guaranteeing the Sister’s salary for three months.[ii] By 1918, the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association was formed.[iii]

The Baby Health Centres Association expanded rapidly across Victoria with 223 districts linked with the association by 1945.[iv] At this time, Healesville Shire Council committed to have a full-time Sister devoted to baby health throughout the Shire by 1 October 1945[v] and Toolangi then had its first Infant Welfare service which operated in the old school/hall building.

Although 17 babies were on the roll in 1946, the harsh Toolangi winter made it impossible for most to get to the old hall and home visits were requested.[vi] Towards the end of 1946 there were 25 children on the roll with Sister Stiffe reporting 166 attendances.[vii] By 1947 there were 204 attendances.[viii] Clearly the population of Toolangi was growing. However, in 1949 many mothers in mills and outlying farms were not being reached as visits were limited to within walking distance.[ix] Eventually, the Maternal Health Sister was provided/ subsidised with a car.

To meet the needs of the expanding population, a local committee was formed and by 1945 had begun fundraising to build their own Baby Health Centre. In a report to Healesville Shire Council in March 1946, the committee had already raised £74/9/4 and offered plant and labour to cut timber. But where could they build?[x]

Healesville Shire Council applied to the Lands Department in August 1946 for excision of a portion of the Toolangi Hall Reserve. Before the Land Department would approve this, they questioned how the proposed structure was to be financed, when it would be erected and who would control the site. The locals replied that they would erect the building at their own cost as soon as a site was available.[xi]

By April 1947 the building plans were approved, subject to the addition of a demonstration window, facilities for heating dishes and a hand wash basin in the consulting room. The committee amended the plans.[xii]

In May 1947 the Lands Department advised a site had been excised from the hall land and reserved for the Baby Health Centre and a building permit was issued.[xiii] Within a month, building had started.[xiv]

The committee, along with the local community, had continued to fundraise. A bazaar in September 1946 raised £150,[xv] another one £62[xvi] and proceeds from dances[xvii] all contributed to the building fund. But it was the Open Garden Days held at ‘Wirilda’ by Mr Lindley Wood and ‘Arden’ by Mrs FW Thring that really boosted the fundraising. These days were held annually from 1948 to 1954. Mr Wood’s passion for the Infant Welfare Centre is evidenced by a plaque placed above the fireplace in memory of his wife who had died in 1945. The community later honoured his own generous contribution towards fundraising and his assistance with building, by placing a memorial plaque for Mr L Wood on the wooden measuring/change table after his death in 1954.[xviii]

Raising the funds was difficult. The local community was required to fund the building on a £2 for £1 basis. Of the Government £1 the local Shire had to contribute a third. However, in July 1949 the Health Department advised a subsidy of £116 was available on a pound for pound basis to complete the building.[xix] By April 1950 the lack of lining material was the only matter preventing completion of the building.[xx]

The building was completed during 1950, although it is not known exactly who built it. Mr Dick Watson (Senior) built the chimney and presumably the rest of the building. Mr Bill Raselli, a local resident and tiler by trade, installed the original tiled roof.[xxi]

The building was operating as an Infant Welfare Centre from 1951[xxii] although the rooms weren’t painted and a few repairs were needed, until a further building grant of £100 was approved in 1954. The Shire proportion of this grant was £33.[xxiii] Interestingly, the Healesville township was without an Infant Welfare Centre until 1956, some six years later.[xxiv]

Toolangi moved from the Healesville Shire to Murrindindi Shire in 1994 when Shire boundaries were redefined and the responsibility for the Maternal & Child Health Centre was transferred to Murrindindi. The centre continued to offer services weekly but gradually moved to alternate weeks and then monthly on a Wednesday morning for two hours. Eventually no-one was coming as the Sister sat and waited. A cost analysis was undertaken and it was decided, with community consultation, that home visits would be offered or, if preferred, a room would be available at the Community House for consultations. Subsequently the Infant Welfare building was added to the Toolangi District Community House lease with Murrindindi Shire in 2017.[xxv]

The Community House received funding from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) to refurbish the rooms in July 2018. Walls were stripped, insulation installed, termite damage repaired and new lighting installed. A second funding was received from FRRR in July 2019 which saw a new kitchen and toilets, as well as new flooring. All this led to the grand opening of a community Opportunity Shop in February 2020, followed by the not-so-grand closing of the Op Shop in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Op Shop continues to open intermittently when lockdowns allow.[xxvi] Fortunately, the vision of the community in repurposing the Maternal & Child Health Building has saved it from eventual demolition.

References

[i] Heather Sheard, All the Little Children: The Story of Victoria’s Baby Health Centres, Municipal Association of Victoria, 2007.

[ii] Online: otr.anmfvic.asn.au/articles/100-years-of-maternal-and-child-health-nursing-1917-2017

[iii] Online: researchdata.edu.au/maternal-child-health-publications-resources/155432

[iv] Trove: Weekly Times (Melbourne: 1869-1954), 14 November 1945, page 2, ‘Baby Centre Progress’.

[v] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 30 June 1945, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[vi] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 9 March 1946, page 4, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[vii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 10 August 1946, page 3, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[viii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 9 August 1947, page 3, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[ix] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 15 January 1949, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[x] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 30 March 1946, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xi] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 31 August 1946, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 5 April 1947, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xiii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 3 May 1947, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xiv] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 7 June 1947, page 3, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xv] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 7 September 1946, page 4, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xvi] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 11 October 1947, page 3, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xvii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 15 June 1946, page 2, ‘Advertising’.

[xviii] ‘History of Wirilda’ Joanne Priestley Toolangi & Castella History Project 2021ebsite:,.

[xix] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 2 July 1949, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xx] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 29 April 1950, page 3, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xxi] Joanne Priestley, Talking Toolangi newsletter, September 1999, ‘History Notes’ supplied by R.J. Pockett.

[xxii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 19 May 1951, page 3, ‘Healesville’s Health is Good’.

[xxiii] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 10 September 1954, page 1, ‘Healesville Shire Council’.

[xxiv] Trove: Healesville Guardian (Lilydale: 1942-1954), 4 June 1954, page 1, ‘Baby Health Centre’.

[xxv] Email correspondence, 4 August 2021, K Starr, Co-ordinator Toolangi & District Community House Inc.

[xxvi] Email correspondence, 4 August 2021, K Starr, Co-ordinator Toolangi & District Community House Inc.