Date1940sCreatorJacobs Brothers Co.Accession Number17.125Access AdviceThis record may not have been reviewed, and information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We are digitising our collections, adding images and improving metadata all the time.
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Exhibition Label
Detecto Baby Scales 1940s
Manufactured by Jacobs Brothers Co.
Metal and cane
Used at the Sunnyside Private Maternity Hospital, this baby weighing scale and its cane cradle holds a special place in the history of infant care in Coffs Harbour. Measuring an infant's growth in its first moments and months of life allows medical professionals to track the baby's development. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of local babies were measured using these particular scales!
The use of equipment like this signals the introduction of scientific principles into the rearing of babies in the early to mid-20th century in an effort to improve infant mortality rates and produce healthy babies on the part of organisations such as Royal Far West.
Sunnyside Private Hospital was located in Grafton Street. First known as Glengarry when it was established in 1932, it operated as Sunnyside until 1948 when it was purchased by the Hospital Board and run as an adjunct to Coffs Harbour's Public Hospital until 1963 when a new maternity wing was built.
