OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1959, 16 January 1914, Page 4

OUR BABIES.

PnUhfilftd under the auspices rf *he So< oiotr fur the Health of Women and Children It is rncir to put up a fonco &l tie ton of K precipice toan to maintain »n icibu fanao »t the bottom 1)R 'KlNfi'S hITTbRr i /Con'limed ) Kafftane Harris Hospital. We ttoro foiluiTit-' in ' srcmnif sciotal icro ol bciiitunlK plinu 1 oil grounds foi oui Mislitution but iho biuidiiiKS fiom fust- U> Inst lia\o Ijoui tho simpler ind in. st JiomdiKr inHginablo—indeed, Tor 'some years mir nursos had to I)p_. acceuuiiodated in «a wooden stable modified , on very primitive Hues, nnd the hospital-itself n ; as an ordinary colonial wooden cottage, good enough for'anyone so far as sunshine, fresh air, etc^j. were concernod, but containing nothing practically eufcsidn tie range of the- hyimblost cottager. Costly, elaborate buildings would bavo been tic revorso of an advantage, and wo were more-, than ■ gratified when. ■ Mr. ■ Woif Harris, of Queen's. Gate, Kensington, roming forward somo three years aso to muiilficentlv. help and endow the society-with the whole estate, ami to supply its with the means of) extending tho. buildings,; wrote i',,his,./:. tvisfes ae follow:-r ; *<s/ 3, 4".'- : y''•'■V'!" ,, .-'?-.""-.. '■ of -Gift; , w ,:.■■;: ; .. .S I 'specially dosiro that, as far p.s possible consistent with doing fnll justice to"the babies admitted, the hospital will continue to bo so directed and managed that any mother in ordinarv circumstances visiting itnitty feel that almost everything done in the institution could be effeotively carried out by herself in her own homo aftor receiving tho necessary instruction. ..As conducing to tins end it is hoped that strict economy and. simplicity in regard to buildings, fw-nishing-B,* appliances, clothing, otc, vill bo maintained as heretofofe, asd tjiat tho treatment will continue*to bo centlvictod, as far as possible, oil broad, simple, practical, scientific lines, easily comprehensible? by- the ordinary mother. I navo no copy of tho annual statistics at hand, but I think I am safe in saying that tho averago mortality has been under 10 per cent, of tho admissions. The infants who have died have generally been moribund when sent in,, and have succumbed within tho first day or two, or at longest within the first weok. ■' ° .

The admissions : have embraced all classes, from the children <*f doctors and professional nurses to 'motherless foundlings; but wo do net take in defectives or babies suffering from specially dangerous infective diseases, such as tuberculosis or syphilis . . ,:.,. . Treatment at Baby Hospital. ■'..Tho treatment is veVy simple, and mainly hygienic. So far ns pure air is concerned, the conditions summer and winter are almost those of an open-air phthisis sanatorium. To prevent chiljing great attention is given to systematic bed-making, on lines ctniiyiileiit to providing; sleeping-bags, this ' being also beneficial to tho babies in that they can bo kept warm and comfortable, with much ■ lignter and less hampering bedclothes'than,,; would' otherwise be needed. . : t;- . . Feeding is. conducted on so-called "percentage" lines, all milk modifications being prepared simply, but accurately, by the nurses and baby nurses undergoing training in the institution, who ore further required to attain proficiency and facility in percentage cal* dilations, and to, master the meaning; bearing, and practical everyday n«o of food values and caloric estimate's, . . , Florouee Nightingale aptly said the pro-perly-trained and educated nurue should be a" help and iiot a haiidraiaec to.the. doctors—indeedj in Now Zealand,'white' tho position we took up in this connection was questioned'at first. lam glad to say that now we hear on all sides of the admirable Work the Plunket Nurses are doing, how they can be relied ou, and tho saving pi infant life, and the advancement of health they are effecting among all classes. The Nutritive and road Value of Baby Food. . I submit that caloric estimation is the only safe, simple, and effective way of keeping ourselves and the nurses from making grqve mistakes from tiifto to time. In tlio absenco of any readilyworkahte chock, it is amazing to seewhat erroneous and divergent tables for infant-feeding have been published, edition ftfter edition, and year after year in some of tho leading text-books of the world, and copied from book to book, it is still more amaziug to cheek some of the prescriptions for the arts- j fteial feeding of babies %v>t with, in practice. Our experience in this matter ] is in entire accord with that of Professor O'Mcara, of Cornell University, i Reckoning of cftloric is, as Dr. O'Mcara says, the ono available means of saving ourselves from making "ridiculous deviations" from proper standards, Clearheadedness and facility in siteh fundamental matters are just as necessary for nurses, who havo to cany out the preparation., and grading of baby foods in practice, and who are daily helping mothers in thc-ir own homes, ns it is for ourselves. Babies rarely need drugs; but they do neod proper quantitative, qualitative food adjustments, and a serious error in such' adjustments may not merely be as bad as an overdose of poison, but may actually involve poisoning of the baby's system, not merely unsatisfactory growth.'' '"— ;> ,'^ '....- . .';."' /'■ Dareful Washing. '"■.. "■' Routine weighing and charting is done at'the hospital twice a week; and case-taking,'including percentage, composition, and caloric value of food consumed, is carried out ow simple, scientific lines by the nurses. The precise amount oE food taken daily by each baby is ascertained by providing a "re- ! sidtie bottle" for each cradle, and dcductiiiE what it contains at tho end of tlie~dsy from the specified allowance. I need not say that records made on these lines are very illuminating, and i have a practical scientific value. . In the "case of ailinjj nurslings, the babies are regularly weighed before and ■after each suckling to ascertain precisely what supplementary amount to i give' . Patent foods .are not need. Medi- '. cine is rarely' found to" bo necessary. I Washing out of stomach and bowels', irI rigation, massaeo for'constipation, etc, tiro 'systematically...ta»2ht: and used, as needed. . ''V , ' <'.•..,-.'■.:£ ■ ' ■ ■■' '■ Babies who enter the lnstituhoa using dummies or habituated to night-feed-ing, or feeding more often that every threo li;mrs,',aro. quickly broken of these habits. ■ ■■&%s*'■'. r' ■-■' ; ■'-''■'*..s-'-''k ; v.- i;;i3W.n,o':bd'.coiitinued.);4sfjj;;\;^.'