OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1854, 13 September 1913, Page 13

OUR BABIES.

FBI HTQBIA.I

Published under tho ampioes of th# Society for the Htalth of Women and Children. "It it wi»r to put up & fenoo *t the top of »< precipice than to maintain on ambulance at the bottom." NOTE—Tho Society strongly disapproves of the U6o of artificial foods as a_ substitute for mothers' or liulEaniaod mjlk. Full directions for the preparation of the latter a.r© contained in the Society's pamphlet entitled "What Baby Needs." ' FRESH AIR. Recently We urged again the necessity for an ajnpta supply of pure, fresh, freeflowing air for all children if we wish them to grow up strong and capable. As bearing upon the extreme importance of this factor in child life, and the amount of attention which is being paid ■to the subject, the following extracts from a paper by Dr. Edwin E. Graham, Professor of Diseases of Children in tho Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, are most instructive. The paper was iend at tho annual meeting of tho American Pediatric Society, and was published in the Archives of Pediatrics in February, 1909. FRESH AIR IN THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN/ My first work in fresh air treatment began some eight years ago in the children's wards of tho Philadelphia Hospital. The wards were large, the milk fairly good, enough nurses were on duty to keep the children fed according to my directions, they wero bathed regularly and kept clean; but in tho wards where the very young infants, mostly foundlings, were placed tho results wero very Unsatisfactory. Much depended upon the physical condition of the infajtf on admission. A frail infant, perhaps premature and under normal weight, would gain for a few weeks at best, then remain stationary_ in weight, finally gradually lose weight, begirt to have diarrhoea, and die. Robust admission often' did well 'for three months. Tho same symptoms after this period began to develop in 'them as in the infants admitted in a condition of malnutrition, and in spite of my best efforts many of these robust children died. The same typo of infants in my private practice were,, almost without exception, doing well. Convinced that neither the food, nursing, nor general caro of these hospital infants was at fault, and that the so-called "hospitalism" was nothing bus lack of fresh air, and lack of outdoor air, 1 ordered these ohildren in the month of January (winter timo in the United States of America) to bo placed for two hours each day on the fire escapes. • The cribs wore simply moved out upon the fire escapes, and towels pinned over the top of Doth ends of the cribs as wind shields. Tho infant mortality began to lesson immediately, and I began to see somo hope for my infant' hospital patients. In tho following two or three years, during my service in January, February, and March of each year, 1 had the children for a number of hours each day, unless it was raining or snowing, carried down to a largo open space facing tho hospital buildings, and kept in small hammocks. These infants were always bundled up in blankets, and their heads well covered. They did remarkably well—so well, in fact, that instead of my/infants dying, most of them began to gain in weight and health, and' the deaths wera almost entirely in infants under three months of age whose condition was distinctly bad upon admission to tho hospital. During tha past five years tho infants have beon placed in the new, modorn, and up-to-date building of the Philadelphia Hospital. Tho wards are large, the air space ample, tho milk cho very best; porches' surround the hospital on two sides, the infants practically have an abundance of fresh air day and night, and they do as well as could be hoped for. lam no longer a pessimist when in the infants' ward, but an optimist. In the new Jefferson Hospital, where I ani on duty the entire year, tho children have an ideal ward on the eighth floor, large windows on three sides with a large roof garden adjoining, the latter fitted up with every convenience, _ such as hammocks, shade, wind sliiel'ds, etc. Tho roof garden is used all the year round, winter and summer, and the results are most encouraging. Of all the factors which havo contributed to tho reduction of this infant mortality fresh air has, in my opinion, been tho ono of prime importanec. We shall pause here and analyse what Dr. Graham has been telling his medical confreres. • With largo wards, fairly good milk, competent nursing, and skilled medical attendance, 12 years ago infants in the Philadelphia Hospital pined and died. They lacked pure, fresh, free-flowing air, and when that was supplied the mortality dfeniriished liprkcdly 1 , and the infants began,to gain,in weight and health, the deaths being almost entirely among those under three months old, whoso condition was distinctly bad on admission. Now, in the new, modern, and up-to-date hospital with abundance of fresh air, and milk of 'the very best, the babies "do as well as couli be hoped for." Dr. Graham attributes the great improvement almost entirely to fresh air. ' I can hear mothers say: "That is allvery well in an' expensive, modern, nptoJate hospital, with all the latest appliances, But what can we do in our little houses?" KARITANE BABY HOSPITAL. If these mothers would only go to the Karitano Hospital some, afternoon they would see how equally good, if not better, results can be obtained in an ordinary small house. If there is any meaning in language, I should s;',y that the results at Kari- I tane are infinitely ahead of those described by Dr. Graham in the sentence. ' 'the babies do as well as couM be hoped for." Our babies thrive and grow in a •truly wonderful way, and the results have gone far beyond our most sanguine hopes. As I said above, tho Karitane Hospital iB only a sis-roomed cottage, to which a verandah and an additional small ward and four very small rooms havo ben added in the most economical way. However, before the additional accommodation was thought of the babies lived an out-of-door life, and slept in rooms through which a broad stream of pure outside air flowed all night long.: In the winter tho temperature was sometimes down to freezingpoint, but tho babies slept peacefully in their cosy bods, breathing the pure air streaming in from outside. Of course, there wero screens to keep off any particular wind which might blow directly on to a baby, and all the babies' wero sufficiently clothed. During the summer tho babies are out by 7 o'clock in tho morning, and they remain out of doors all day lone:, and after tlioy aro bathed and fixed up for the night tlicy arc frequently put out on the verandah again. Surely when mothers understand how much stress is laid upon the enormous benefits'of fresh ' air by. the greatest authorities on tho care of children tlioy will begin to takcrthe 'matter to hearty "WARNING. Of course, if mothers havo been in the habit of coddling their babies they must gradually habituate them to pure fresh air. This they can do by opening the window a littta wider every night, and gradually placing the baby's hed where it must get practically pure air. Our Plunket Nurse will gladly adviso mothers about tho best place for baby's cot. liemomber that a baby must never sleep in bed with its mother. It must have a separate cradlo or cot.