OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2156, 23 May 1914, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

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Published under the auspioes of the Society for the Healtn or Women and Children. "It la wleor to put up a. fence at tbo top of a precipice than to maintain on ambulance at tUe bottom." Amorioan Baby-saving Census. •Tho following account of a project of tho United States Central Government Authority at Washington for throwing light on the factors militating against cnild life appears in tho Technical World Magazine, ft has been forwarded to me by Mr. W. Jenkins, our society's.Foreign correspondent, and will, I am sure, be read with interest. "The lack of knowledge of how to care for infants is one of tho great evils that require a remedy. But we have too evidently belioved that it was tho individual and not the public's business to set right the wrong. This vital matter, however, ought to be more the concern of tho nation than even tariff or banking reforms, and tho Federal Government at last has taken a hand. Under tho supervision of Miss Julia Lathrop, Director of the Children's Bureau, a tremendous work will soon be going on that will have for' its aim the securing of hygienic conditions for the helpless infant." I ■ The Nation Guilty. One hundred and fifty thousand murders are going to be committed in the United States during the year, and tho law is going to take no cognisance of tho matter. Worst of all, these victims will be the most helpless and pititul of our citizens.' This slaughter is not peculiar to this year; it has been going on from timo immemorial. It is not a deliberate thing, but it might just as well be. It is due to ignorance, stupidity, and neglect. Government statistics show that tho mortality of infants under one year of age, in this great enlightened land, is not less than 500,000 every twelvemonth, and that exactly half of these deaths arc unnecessary. That is tho murder on a east scale which we as a nation are guilty of.

Tho Light of/bay Needed. But a chaugo isVoniing shortly, if the intelligent will only he on the alert to give their very necessary aid. Miss Julia Lathrop, Director or the Federal Government's Children's Bureau, has been entrusted by the national authorities with conducting the vast plan of finding out why all this is so—why today tne chances of life with an infant are only evcn.witli those of death. [Memo, by "Hygeia".—This cannot refer to the infan'iilo death-rate .during tho first year of life, but probably means that half tho babies born in the "United States do not s'unive tho full period of "infancy"—in other words, that tlioy dio within a few years of birth.] The United States is not the only land at which the 'finger of shamo may be pointed; no, not by any means! The entire civilised world is equally at fault. Tho annual massacrc'of the innocents is placed at tlid appalling figures of some 3,200,000. But, if wo continue to claim a plaeo in the vanguard of civilisation, wo ought to show a culpable world how to minimise this tremendous loss. To-day, when a scientific investigation of anything is begun reports m the form of figures are usually demanded as a basis for drawing conclusions. That is the method Miss Lathrop is .adopting. Federal appropriation has been made for the purpose. It is still partly problematical as to'which cities will 'be selected for starting this tremendous campaign, hut local conditions will largely influence the final decision in the matter.

Starting the Investigation. Work will probably be begun in those ' parts of the country, whero there exists . an adequate compulsory' birth' rcgistra- ; tion law, New York City, tho progres- ; sive States of Pennsylvania and Michi- ] gau, and practically every Now Eng- 1 land State, can qualify. Therefore,tlns , is tho territory that will first be- ex- : ploitcd. Agents .will be sent from. • house to house,, and it is expected that ' there will be hearty co-operation and ' support on the part of the parents' in this great work. What They Intend to Ash About. Such questions will bo asked as will show what the home conditions are, whether or not the child is bottle-fed, how it is dressed, nationality of parents, family income, • a brief account of the previous life of the parents, etc. "We have dealt only too long with statistics of deaths," Miss Lathrop asserts, "now', let us consider statistics of birth and life and living." Only children up to ono year of ago will bo considered in this tabulation. From tho fairly accurato birth registration records a complete list of all infants of the required ago can, of course, bo obtained. The history of the child will then bo put on record. If it is dead—and the chances, as have been pointed out, are equal for such a con-tingency-j-the cause of death will- be returned. What They Expect to Find Out. Now, from ail these various biographies it can bo deduced which conuitions are most inimical to the welfare of tho child, and which: are productive of health. The question of diet, the most vital one to be considered in the rear-' ing of children, will, it is expected, have an immense amount of valuable light thrown upon it. Tho relation of birth to death rate may also be thoroughly worked out. In New Zealand, where, until recently at least, labour conditions have been superior to those of most other lands, the death rate of those under ono year is but 03, to the thousand. (Latest available New Zealand statistics, 1912, show only 51 per thousand.) Ifc is more than a coincidence that, by way of contrast, tho unhappy factory cities of Lawrence and Fall River, Massachusetts,, show a respective death-rate of 172 aud 100 to the thousand. Babies Allowed to "Tumble Up." In too many instances babies aro not reared, hut are permitted to tumble up. After the infant is weaned, the ignorant parent believes that it is fully qualified to struggle with the sort of'ill-bal-anced and hiird-to-digost diet'ivhieh its seniors reduce their efficiency upon. No wonder colic and convulsions follow. Flies, milk contaminated by dirty feeding bottles, foul air, irregular feeding, and sheer neglect are all contributory causes to our enormous infant mortality. Even cow's milk, though it bo of the purest sort, literally may bring starvation to the child. This is particularly truo of the rich fluid of tho Jersey. Tho fat globules form, sometimes, an oily lining in the stomach, thereby prohibiting digestion, and the resulting assimilation of the milk. When under the best of circumstances apparently wholesome foods 60 readily dcrango the littlo digestive apparatus, the average conditions that confront tho hapless child surely aro appalling. Importance of Proper Feeding. In view of tho magnitude of tho recent disclosures of infant mortality, it becomes impossible to overestimate the importance of the subject, of scientific feeding. Furthermore, when all is said and done, the fact should not be overlooked that Nature provides tho most scientific of all methods. In tho matter of child welfare the State of lowa took a pioneer stop when she inaugurated, two years ago, a babies' health contest. Other States have since fallen into line, and, through arousing a competitive interest, aro accomplishing irfdirectly tho desired end. Statistics of l\h v. Statistics of Death. Tho work of the Government. Bureau, however, is the 'first comprehensive attempt that has been made lo supersede, statistics of death with those of life.

Through tho dissemination of these results it is hoped that certain principles vital to the care of infants will beconio a matter of common property. With such knowledge put to general application wo may look to seo a baby's chance of living advance beyond the startling 00 per cent, basis.

Tlio Government exports in tlio suggested census do not, of courso, expect to snpersedo local action. Tho purposo is to work hand in hand with tho city and State authorities whatever this aid can l)o obtained. Further, it is fully expected that local sentiment in tho

matter may bo so crystallised that independent action to carry out tho remedies proposed by the Government exports will be taken by the various communities." Glaso Builds Bonny Babie6.—Advt.