Bethesda Mothers' Hospital

The Bethesda Mothers’ Hospital, in Rockhampton, was run by the Salvation Army. It functioned as a maternity hospital and a rescue home for girls. Before 1938, it was known as the Glenties Mothers’ Hospital. In 1968, it was again renamed Bethesda Hospital and Hostel.

An article in Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin on 2 July 1938 stated that the Bethesda Mothers’ Hospital would operate in two distinct areas of work, both to be managed by the Salvation Army.

One section would function as a private maternity hospital where, for a small fee, married women would be cared for by a qualified Salvation Army nurse. The proceeds of this ward helped fund the operation of the “charitable wards” (NAA A885 B96, 1941).

The other section would operate as a girls’ home. The article in the Morning Bulletin went on to state that:

“destitute, wronged, and neglected girls are cared for and little unwanted babes are given a home, until such time as adoption can be arranged.

There will be a new nursery with a large veranda on three sides, with miniature dining room, furniture for the toddlers, new bathrooms, and locker rooms. Individual lockers and wardrobes are provided for, and fly-proof rooms for the preparation of the babies’ food.”

Bethesda Mothers’ Hospital was described similarly in its application for approval as an institution to receive Child Endowment payments. It described the girls’ section in slightly different terms, as a home “for sub-normal girls and an industrial home for uncontrollable girls and girls taken from the street” (NAA A885 B96, 1941). It also stated that “foster babies” at the home were generally the children of unmarried mothers who had stayed in the maternity hospital. At this time there were 12 babies living at the home.