Helen Umbers has been at the heart of Wanaka’s baby boom for so long she cannot contemplate life without babies.

The sole charge Plunket Nurse recently retired after 25 years nurturing and caring for thousands of Upper Clutha babies and their parents, but is already picking up relief jobs in other centres.

Helen and her husband Russell will move to Rangiora after Helen finishes a brief stint of relief work at Dunedin Plunket.

When Helen first began working from Plunket’s rooms at 51 Ardmore Street in 1994, she was seeing about 30 to 40 Wanaka and Lake Hawea babies a year.

Back then, Cromwell was producing slightly more babies than Wanaka, about 50 to 60 a year, Helen said.

When Helen retired at the end of 2019, she was seeing about 230 Wanaka and Lake Hawea babies a year.

Helen was raised on a farm near Rangiora and trained and qualified as a registered nurse at Christchurch Public Hospital, where she worked in paediatrics.

Helen was on a skiing holiday with some nursing friends in the 1980s when she met her husband Russell, a Wanaka mechanic and more recently, a trustee of the Olive and Graham West Charitable Trust.

After a couple of years courting, the couple married in 1986 and Helen moved to Wanaka to work as a district nurse with nursing identities Jenny Muir and Debbie Studholme.

Several years of district nursing later, Helen began working for Plunket and never looked back.

She trained as a childbirth educator and went on to facilitate antenatal classes for 22 years in Wanaka and Cromwell.

She also studied to be a lactation consultant to better support breastfeeding for women in the area.

Helen remained in sole charge at the purpose-built Plunket Rooms until her colleague Stacey McIntyre was appointed about 18 months ago.

Stacey has now taken over the reins from Helen.

“When she was recruited, that was a godsend. She is a very competent nurse and I feel very privileged to support her into the role,’’ Helen said.

The Plunket Society was founded in 1907 in Dunedin by child health visionary Sir Frederic Truby King.

Today, Plunket is a nationwide charitable trust providing health and nutrition services to children and caregivers. It also provides parenting advice and support services and a baby car seat programme.

An army of volunteers assists with fundraising, parent meetings and other events and activities.

Helen spent 25 years working out of the little Upper Clutha Plunket Rooms, caring for thousands of babies in her tenure.

Wanaka’s Plunket building was built at 51 Ardmore Street in 1961. It was extensively renovated in 2006 to cope with population growth.

Residents were cooing with delight in 2008 when the parents of 60 infants presented their babies to Upper Clutha Plunket for a media photograph.That photo represented not quite 50 percent of the 126 Wanaka babies born in the first six months of that year.

By the time the children were five-years-old, in 2013, Wanaka schools were being squeezed for space. Existing schools were popping up new classrooms and new early childhood education centres and primary schools were being built.

The baby boom has not stopped kicking. Census 2018 revealed 759 under-fives were resident in the Upper Clutha area, up from 414 in 2006. This 83 per cent increase was higher than 62 per cent overall gain of babies in the entire Queenstown Lakes District (2,118 under-fives in 2018, compared with 1,302 in 2006).

This year marked the opening of Wanaka’s new primary school, Te Kura O Take Karara, but Wanaka  continues to face a raft of challenges presented by the high birth rate.

Pressure on local midwives and the lack of maternity services has been well documented. Local campaigners continue to lobby politicians for a national improvement in funding for maternity services as well as a maternity hub and birthing centre in Wanaka.

Helen is concerned Wanaka has not yet got all the family support services it needs.

“We know Wanaka has been found now and it has attracted huge growth. I do feel concern, going forward, with the potential for ongoing growth. Knowing the mums, and the very first time mums, they don’t have the immediate extended family right on the doorstep. The women in Wanaka are very resourceful and proactive. It is amazing. The area attracts that kind of motivation, but you still need social services,’’ Helen said.

“Wanaka is increasing in population and popularity with young people but is there enough room and space to accommodate the little people here?’’

Helen and Russell recently went on holiday and on their return noticed things had changed even in that short time.

“One of the biggest things we realised after being away for a couple of weeks is the amazing amount of traffic and our roading system hasn’t got it to keep that flow going,’’ she said.

Parking outside Plunket was also a concern, Helen said.

“The oldies 20 years ago could park up outside and it might still be an expectation! It is still a wee challenge for the wee place there [at 51 Ardmore St].”

Helen said Plunket’s town centre location is a great situation for parents, who can pop in to attend to their youngsters’ needs, before carrying on with their tasks in town.

“It is such a great situation and hub. I am not sure what is going to happen there. There has been talk of moving Plunket, because it is now such a busy street. But the beauty of it is it is central to town, and a place to pop in, hang out, change nappies, have a play and go again. It would be sad to see it move but I can see the need to create more space,’’ Helen said.

While Helen is helping out at Dunedin Plunket this month, once the move to Rangiora has been completed, she would like to do relief work there, while Russell hopes to find some casual farm work.

 “We’ll probably have to do a little bit of work yet. Canterbury Plunket has asked if I would do relief work with them so that’s what I am planning to do at this stage. I will be on call, helping the team up there,’’ she said.

The Umbers had initially discussed moving to Dunedin, perhaps to the coast at the north end of the city, but Rangiora won the day.

Helen has two brothers, an uncle and an aunt in the area.

Their sons Jeremy and Ben no longer live in Wanaka. Jeremy is in Brisbane and a married father of two. Ben lives in Dunedin.

Helen said she and Russell would return to Wanaka as often as possible to visit Russell’s mum, Doreen. They have also picked up a couple of weeks’ farm-sitting for friends.

Retirement would also give the couple a chance to explore more of the country and they were looking forward to travelling and visiting their grandchildren in Australia.

One thing is for certain: Helen will miss Wanaka’s babies.

“That’s why I will be gravitating towards Rangiora Plunket Rooms, to help breastfeeding support programmes there. It has been a big piece of my life,’’ she said.

“Wanaka will always be a special place. I know we will miss it. We can always come back, anytime.”

PHOTOS: Supplied