OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 14

OUR BABIES.

[BY ItTGEU,] It is wteer to put up a fonco at the top of a. precipice than to maintain .- on ambulance at tho bottom. (Published under tho auspices of th Society for the Health of Woraon an Children.) EBAL AIMS AND OBJECTS OF TH] ■ society; , In one's travels throughout tho Domin ion ouo is daily confronted with evidence of the limited ideas which still prevail ii many quarters as to tho broad scop and objects of ..the health mission, whicl tho, society, has teen carrying- on for ovo fivo' years. It is true that very few people no\ even-pretend to think that we are pri manly interested in the;artificial i'eedini of babies—they understand our first ob ject is to ensure tho health and fitness o the mother long. beforo child birth, si that the baby may bo born strong am healthy, and that it may bo nurtured fo: tho full term in tho natural way. Fur ther, most people realise that humanisei milk merely means the. milkj of somi mammal so modified as to nmko it ap '; proximate as nearly as-possible to thi milk designed 1/y tho ' Creator for tin youhg,-human being—the substitute, beinj frankly recognised as necessarily inferioj to health}'' human milk, and therefore only to be .'. recommended where natural suckling is unattainable. . But, only t few years ago, the society was often mis represented by prejudiced persons as.encouraging women to feed their babies artificially. Having got past theso'-first crude mis conceptions we find ourselves still faced with a hazy, idea, lingering he« and there, that in some mysterious way tho society may le doing away-with the self-reliance 'of tho mothers and, metaphorically speaking, "spoon-feeding" them through .tho, agency of Plunket Nurses. Nothing can'be further from the truth. ' Indeed (he* following extract from' the 600161/3 injunctions to its nurses shows the very reverse to be the cns9:— i mSTRTCTIONS TO PLUNKET , ' , NURSES. .. Tho main function of 'the society's nurses is to.educate and help parents and others in unpractical .tray in the hygiene of the home and nursery with a view to .conser?ing the health of tho wholo family, while directing special attention to the needs of mother'and offspring. " The society is extremely anxious to bring about a realisation of the sufficing- : ncss in general of . obedienco to ■ tho simple, known laws of life and to maintain the, .health of mother child, and tho inevitable Nemesis which follows sooner or later on any evasion of duty in,this respect. Above all, it desires to avoid,th© resorting to anything savouring of inystery, or suggestive' or special -knowledge or powers outside tho rango or understanding of ordinary men and women; The aim should ' always be to stimulate'and quickon tho interest and self-reliance of parents in matters pertaining to; home, so that it may bo regulated in a simple, sensible, and responsible way consistent'with l What is known at tho present time as to' the fundamental requirements of life. .• ' The society's work is 'essentially a health mission. In regard to, domestic hygiene, its trained nurses should take the placo »of untrained, unskilled neighbours or relations in as tactful a way as possible l They should endeavour to establish in the home' an understanding and adoption of 'the simple principles illustrated in practice at the Karitano Udby Hospital, and inculcated .in the society's books, pamphlets, ''Our Babies" column, etc. . , ■''■./A-PATRIOTIC ORGANISATION. The' society is a/mutual cp-oner.atiye patriotic organisation for education in the essentials of motherhood and race culture, free, to all, without''a .trace of patronage or charity. Not only does the society inculcate 6clfireliance and self-help, but it earnestly invites the womeu' ot all. classes to avail themselves of its simple,;"practical teaching and services, not only in the interests of tho health and fitness of themselves and their families, but for the sake of tho whole rising generation and tho future of our rac'ei < There is no greater mistake than to suppose that the society cxistsfor the less capable and . less competent stocks of tho community or for tho sake of the submerged. Wo want to bring abontra higher standard of .-health, and fitness in'all classes'. This is clearly shown in the following extract from. remarks, made by! the'general, president, of ,the' society, when questioned on this jxiint recently by a reporter :— "Is it n fact,' he was asked, "that tho movement .is intended specifically to reach tho classes whoso position makes it unlikely, that they would be in possession of! the knowledge requisite l for the safeguarding of infant life?" ' The reply was: "No. Indeed the question really coJveys.a not uncommon misconception as to the essential aim of the society, .What we recognise first and foremost is, as a Reading American ■ physician said, that there is as much need ior education and training in matters pertaining to the health of the communitydn general, and the rising generation in particular, ■ among the educated and well-to-do as among the poor and ignorant. ; "The Society for the Health of Women and Children was established,in the be-' ginning, ' and. '-.has,'been' maintained throughout as a mutual, aid organisation, tho members'of which have frankly, realised that they had practically as much to learn themselves as they had to convey' to others. They, have left no stone upturned in their efforta to perfect their •knowledge from'all sources and to spread this throughout the community by every practicable means, availing themselves of specially-trained nurses, bookp, pamphlets, etc.; and above all the generous aid-which has been accorded to tliem from riart to finish by tho press; "•.' /'However;' it -is not generally realised to how great an extent the spread . and advance' of this movement has been due to the direct and indirect personal influence of the. teaching of members of the strong local committees which have carried the work of the society. Essentially tho mission is conducted on broad educational lines—an educational health mission to all classes alike, "It is sometimes asked why no charge is made for tho services of the Plunkct Nurses, but the fact is that we look at the whole scheme .from an educational point, of view. ..All the society teaches it desires tho whole community to avail itself of as widely as possible^—because the knowledgo it gives is of a necessary character—indeed, to a large extent it is of a character which should bo conveyed to girls'on : tho verge of womanhood, and it may come to be conveyed to a considerable extent in the not distant future in tho latter stages of school life. tliis is hoping for Tather too much, but in any case it would bo unwise to attempt to make a charge for the acquisition of knowledge which. the recipients have for the most.part scarcely recognised that they needed at first, but which we know is of tho utmost importance to mother and child.and to tho community. Indeed, the movement must bo considered a'patriotic one, since any improvement, in the health and vitality of tho rising generation will be n matter' of prime importance to tho safety and defence of, tho country, quito ! apart from its importance -'to the community in all other respects."