Interview with Helen McGill and Naida Lyttle

Interviews with Dr Helen McGill and Naida Lyttle about their involvement in the Family Planning Association in Christchurch, advocating for and providing women's contraception from 1960.

Helen McGill, born 1931 in Yorkshire, England. Discusses her childhood in Yorkshire, and talks about the influence of her grandmother, a herbalist who helped women with conception and contraception issues and openly discussed issues such as abortion. Talks about marrying and moving to New Zealand, and settling in Christchurch. Became involved with family planning via the Medical Women's Association. Describes how initially the service was only available to married women but that unmarried women increasingly received assistance.

Describes the introduction of the contraceptive pill and the controversy it caused. Outlines the Family Planning clinic's work as primarily contraception, as well as psychosexual counselling after 1980 for rape and incest victims, cervical smears and the controversial sexually transmitted disease (STD) screening. Describes how the screening was requested by the Department of Health and only undertaken at some clinics around the country. Describes her changing attitudes to abortion, the work of Sisters Overseas Service who sent women to Auckland or Australia, and subsequently working at the Lyndhurst Abortion Clinic. Describes the battle to keep family planning going and the opposition from much of the medical establishment in Christchurch, which was stronger than at some other clinics in the North Island. Describes being an early prescriber of oestrogen hormonal treatment for women with menopausal symptoms.

Naida Lyttle describes being a nurse at the Christchurch Clinic. Talks about being a mother of five children, and talks about how she became involved with the Family Planning Association. Explains how the nurses originally did a lot of educational talks. Talks about working with Jean Nuthall, explains why they got involved in doing vasectomies, and the support of Dr Margaret Sparrow. Talks about counselling patients, and describes an example of failed contraception.

Interviewer(s) - Helen Smyth

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-008272; OHC-008273; OHC-008274

Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 transcript(s). 1 interview(s). 2.15 Hours and minutes Duration.

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - transcript(s) available OHA-2530.

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Alternative form available: Listening copies OHLC-006052 to OHLC-006054