091322 140 year history - A4 landscape v1 digital - Flipbook - Page 38
1900
Alexandra Children’s Ward
In the era when Prince Alfred Hospital
was built, infections were the major cause
of illness and great numbers of children
were admitted to the children’s ward
with gastro-enteritis. Since the disease
was often fatal for infants, they required
constant and careful nursing and a cow
was kept at the hospital to provide them
with milk. Diphtheria was another feared
disease with many infant deaths. There
were injuries too. At a time when houses
were heated by open fires and candles
were carried about at night, newspapers
featured many sensational stories of
children from surrounding suburbs being
taken to the hospital with terrible burns.
Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia
PIC/6133/1193
38