Women and Children Last’

This article examines the establishment of maternal and child health services in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in the post-Second World War period. It has been argued that women’s and children’s health had a low priority with the administrations of the respective territories pre-war. In the early post-war period, the need for services specifically for women and children was recognized by the Administration. A maternal and child health service was established largely through the efforts of Dr Joan Refshauge in the Department of Public Health between 1947 and 1963 and in coordinating with work performed by the Christian missions. The article argues that infants were the key focus of the services. While maternal health care gradually gained attention in the 1950s–60s, it actively reproduced gendered disparities from the colonial context. Maternal care seems to have faltered with Refshauge’s departure and with emphasis on paediatric care

Child development · Child health · Health services · Maternal health · New guinea · Public health · Global Maternal and Child Health