Master of Philosophy in Public Health / This thesis is about the substantial service Karitane provided in the teaching of mothercraft to guide parents in the care of their young children in New South Wales. At first called the Australian Mothercraft Society, it emerged in New South Wales as a voluntary organisation in 1923, closely allied to New Zealand’s Plunket Society founded in 1907 by Sir Truby King. Karitane was at its most active in the 1940s when it provided over a quarter of Sydney’s residential mothercraft services. Its beginnings were overshadowed by conflict and the New South Wales Department of Public Health did not acknowledge Karitane until the 1960s. Until then Karitane was absent from the public record of services for mother and baby in NSW. Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs community and the Karitane Products Society in New Zealand supported Karitane before it integrated into New South Wales’ government supported health services. Throughout it delivered on its aims of teaching mothers ways of caring for infants, disseminating knowledge about the care of young children and preparing specialist nurses. The main theme of this thesis is the ‘moving frontier’ that is the boundary between the voluntary providers of health services and governmental provision of health services. Karitane’s development has depended on the politics of health care at Commonwealth, State and local levels. The secondary themes derive from the competition for scarce resources amongst the professional groups involved; doctors, nurses and health service administrators. Karitane’s experience has not been unique; it has followed a trajectory common to voluntary organizations providing personal care services through the twentieth century and it has conformed to trends in public health. Sometimes Karitane led the trends and sometimes it trailed; it adapted to circumstances but it retains a degree of independence. Shining through all the problems with resources are the human experiences of appreciative mothers who used Karitane’s services and the dedicated staff and supporters who provided mothercentred help with the care of infants. The mother/infant relationship continues to be a central concern for public health. This study of Karitane gives a longitudinal perspective on the contribution of a small band of skilled people with a clear mission to provide services to assist mothers with their babies and young children.

Master of Philosophy in Public Health / This thesis is about the substantial service Karitane provided in the teaching of mothercraft to guide parents in the care of their young children in New South Wales. At first called the Australian Mothercraft Society, it emerged in New South Wales as a voluntary organisation in 1923, closely allied to New Zealand’s Plunket Society founded in 1907 by Sir Truby King. Karitane was at its most active in the 1940s when it provided over a quarter of Sydney’s residential mothercraft services. Its beginnings were overshadowed by conflict and the New South Wales Department of Public Health did not acknowledge Karitane until the 1960s. Until then Karitane was absent from the public record of services for mother and baby in NSW. Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs community and the Karitane Products Society in New Zealand supported Karitane before it integrated into New South Wales’ government supported health services. Throughout it delivered on its aims of teaching mothers ways of caring for infants, disseminating knowledge about the care of young children and preparing specialist nurses. The main theme of this thesis is the ‘moving frontier’ that is the boundary between the voluntary providers of health services and governmental provision of health services. Karitane’s development has depended on the politics of health care at Commonwealth, State and local levels. The secondary themes derive from the competition for scarce resources amongst the professional groups involved; doctors, nurses and health service administrators. Karitane’s experience has not been unique; it has followed a trajectory common to voluntary organizations providing personal care services through the twentieth century and it has conformed to trends in public health. Sometimes Karitane led the trends and sometimes it trailed; it adapted to circumstances but it retains a degree of independence. Shining through all the problems with resources are the human experiences of appreciative mothers who used Karitane’s services and the dedicated staff and supporters who provided mothercentred help with the care of infants. The mother/infant relationship continues to be a central concern for public health. This study of Karitane gives a longitudinal perspective on the contribution of a small band of skilled people with a clear mission to provide services to assist mothers with their babies and young children.

From the late nineteenth century to the end of the Great War, Britain underwent a profound transition in the way the State conceptualized and approached the related issues of infant mortality, maternal welfare, and public health. For much of the nineteenth century, the State’s liberal, laissez-faire tradition dictated an anti-interventionist approach to public health which emphasized the notion of personal responsibility and respected individual liberties. Complementing this, the fragmented, localized and disciplinary governance methods this engendered were reflective of the Foucauldian power technology of anatomo-power. However, armed with knowledge of the conditions of the slums and the military consequences such conditions reaped shortly after the turn of the century, Britain’s legislative and governance approach to infant and maternal welfare, and public health more generally, evolved as the State began to take greater control over these issues in a manner reflective of a turn towards the welfare state and biopolitics. However, it was only upon the declaration of War in 1914, and in response to the cataclysmic threats this conflict presented, that the conditions occurred which allowed the State to exert an unprecedented authority over the population. This implicitly challenged the traditions of laissez faire-liberalism and anatomo-power, and reflected a pivotal turn towards the welfare state and the implementation of biopolitical governance techniques. Using Foucault’s theory of biopolitics, this thesis assesses this transition with a view to emphasizing the experiences of working-class women, their children, and how their health and welfare improved as a result of these complementary and parallel transitions.