OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2181, 20 June 1914, Page 13

OUR BABIES.

1 ; 1 —_—.— fß* Hvosu.l

Published under the auspices of the Society. lor the Health of Women ■ and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top or a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." This week we again. make an extract from the. annual report of the Central Council, 'which we trust will tend to deepon the- interest o£ our readers in the work of the society. BREAST-FEEDING. ' Wo note with satisfaction that the iteration and re-iteration of tho paramount importance of breast-feeding apt pears to be steadily bearing fruit. The t'lunkct Nurses report that the number of mothers who are entirely breastfeeding their babies has increased threefold this year. This is mainly due to tho largo number of expectant mothers who get in touch with the nurses months before tho birth of their babies. The nurses are able by good counsel with regard to exercise, regularity, suitable food, etc., to ensure better prospects for mother and child, and, naturally, the mother continues to seek the nurse's aid after the baby's birth. THE STRUGGLE FOR REFORM. Wo make no apology for extracting from' last year's roport the following summary of some of. tho main points for which wo are still fighting, because' those reforms cannot bo too strongly impressed on all members of the society. "Fresh Air, Exorcise,- etc.—Along with'the strenuous advocacy of breast--feeding, we must continue to make every effort to direct .the general hygienic care of children into proper channels. Fortunately, appreciation of the advantages.of pure,, cool, fresh air, exorcise, suitable clothing, and ; the other essential needs of babyhood is ■ steadily growing. . "Special Advances in Baby-feeding.— In addition to the above, tho most not-

able special advances making for the well-being of breast-fed and bottle-fed alike throughout the Dominion arc:— (1) The widespread adoption of systematic clock-like regularity in. tho feeding of babies. .""' . (2) Tho extension of the'intervals between feedings throughout the early mouths to three hours instead of feeding every two hours. (3) The cntiro abandonment of night-feeding—that is, between, say, 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. * ' (4) The early use of hard, dry,' or tough foods needing mastication. "Tho extreme opposition which each of theso reforms nas met with when advocated by the society only, a. few years ago is gradually dying out; hut many grandmothers'and nurses of the old school prove hard to ; convince. Stranger still, the majority of the books for mothers coming to us" from the Old Country are as s conservative as ever, and tend to perpetuate many of the worst errors of tho Victorian era..: Obthe advances-made during the last 15 years, in America'and on the 1 -.Continent, in tho feeding and care of children, they continue to • fgiiore and oven condemn system of precision in. the- modification of milk for babies, and still blindly advocate two-hourly intervals and night-feedings. Last, and, strangest of a)l (in spite of the witting on the-wall in tho shape of feeble jaws, decayed teeth, and; adenoids)/ they go on recommending.the pap-feeding of infants, and utterly ignore the needs of exercise', for mouth, jaws, and teeth at tho earliest age. "Twenty years of earnest and masterful protest and appeal against 'papfecdiivg by such men as Dr. Harry Campbell and Dr. Sim Wallace have scarcely affected tho advice which continues to be scattered broadcast, and one cannot wonder tliat Dr. Sim Wallace, speaking at the great Dental Congress at Birmingham, should ' have exclaimed almost in despair to his audience: 'What can we dentists hope to affect when it takes so long for tho ascertained knowledge of our profession to percolate tlirotigh to tho medical profession ?' "

NO GENERAL TENDENCY TO MODERNISE BRITISH PRACTICE. We can only regret that so far there are no signs of any genoral tendency to modernise British practice, and that what we quoto above from our last year's report is equally applicable today. In confirmation of this, a few points may suffice: — (1) Tho "Dental Record," London, in u highly apprcciativo revenue of the society's 'Feeding and Care of. Baby," specially welcomes the book, becauso it "marks a distinctly new departure" in advojating due exerciso for mouth, jaws and teeth in babyhood, and in recognising that "erroneous mothods of feeding during infancy" are prime factors in tho causation of feeble jaws, decayed teeth, and adenoids. (2) The latest article for mothers received from.Home (an article on "Suckling," bearing high English medical sanction), says: ". . . There should be one long interval of rest during tho night. Some doctors atlviso four hours, some six, some-eight, according to their special views . . . but, whatever interval may bo ordered, strict obedience should again be displayed by tho mother." This surely implies that even four hours is to be regarded as a "long night interval" though in reality it is extremely short when viewed in' the light of modern knowledge, as we shall show presently. Tho above is absolutely typical of the spirit that pervades the literature for mothers and nurses that still floods our shores from tho outside world—no adequate appeal to tho intelligence of women; no credit for power of understanding on their part; no inkling of the existence- of simple, definite, consistent laws which would servo for the safe guidance of all mothers (rich and poor alike). Of course we all know that the conditions of modern civilisation have carried us far beyond the stage where instinct or even tradition would serve to safeguard mother and child. Indeed, laisser fairo, and tho handing on of traditional error have landed- the world with infantile death-rates of which everyone n^w.is ashamed, and with do-

fects and diseases of the rising generation which wo can no longer cope with. - Wo cannot lot matters stand as they are; ire must act. As Herbert Spencer says:—"ls it not monstrous that the . fate of a now generation should bo left to the chances flf unreasoning custom, impulse, fancy—joined with, the suggestions of ignorant nurses, and the prejudiced counsel of _ Yet. tho ( question might almost bo raised whether it would not be preferable to leave mothers to mere instinct and tradition rather than hand on traditional, error, with the added sanction of seeming scientific authority. ' - | Wo arc assured that the highest trained -intelligence pf the medical profession, wherever it has been brought to bear, along with duo practical observation and experience, whether in the Now World-or in tho Old, has proved conclusively, in-the last ten or fifteen years that the feeding tables for infants -drawn up and circulated by physicians last century were hopelessly wrong; yot it.is those samo'antiquated and obsolete tables that mothers arc still being ordered to follow hlindlv and obedient!-,-! . Our faith \s rudely sha-keii when told that one doctor lays down the time needed for rest and unbroken sloop for irwther and child as four amirs, and another as- eight hours; that one ahvavs orders 10 feedings' in tho 24 hours -as the proper standard, while another s*vs ; 't is a mistake to give more than five or at most six, unless for some exceptional reason. ' THE SOCIETY'S APPEAL. As a society representing motherhood we can only appoal to tho physicians to let us the oxnmple of consistency and uniformity of advice. We arc sure that women will not call in vain to the medical world to draw up a revised and amended "hygienic code" for motliera — a very, simple standard code which the humblest mother could read and follow —a code which would at least be'applicnblo to all temperate countries, and which would not only prevent parents from unwittingly breaking the laws of life and ruining their offspring, but which would tend to ensure- survival that was really worth while—survival free from defects and blemishes and a fair chance of developing to perfect manhood and womanhood. Wo should liko to seo- all parents honestly placed in tho position to do tho best for their effspring—-guided how to rear them simply, sensibly, and intelligently, on modern strictb reliable lines. A MORE HOPEFUL OUTLOOK. (3) Tho following official pronouncement on tho part of the highest English Public Health Authority (tho first statement of tho kind that He have come across) shows conclusively that there is no longer any excuse for failing to bring British medical advice for the guidance of mothers abreast of modern knowledge:— "There can bo little doubt that one important factor leading to the abandonment of breast-feeding has been the mistaken idea that two-hourly meals are required by the infant during tho day, and four-hourly, or even three-hourly, meals at night In most instances fourhourly meals suffice from birth onwards, or at least from tho end of the first month, the infant not being fed at all

fvom 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Tho important I conclusion that infants thrive better with tho less frequent feeding has been proved fan a large scale in tiio experience of infant welfare work in the most important centres in Germany, Austria, and other countries. Tho improved results obtained with diminished frequency of feeding have beon fully confirmed by ail who have adopted this method in this country.—Report to the Local Government Board, July, 1013, by Dr. Arthur Newsholme." Women may well feel grateful to Dr. Newsholme for this outspoken statement of the facts. Does any man truly realise what it means to the mother (especially to a mother with a multitudo of household cares .and worries) to struggle conscientiously with the supposed duty of nursing her baby every two hours, and dnco or twice during tho night—to have spells of little more than one hour and a-half from the end, of one feeding to the beginning of the next— and this to go on day after day and week after week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., finishing with mere snatches of broken sleep 1 ■ Every necessary sacrifice for the sake of her child every true woman will of course make; but surely this is all tho more reason for protecting tho mother from more than futile sacrifices—sacrifices which are as injurious to tho child as to herself. , . Tho experience of our society from 'end to end of New Zealand leaves us in no doubt whatever as to the great advantages of feeding only ever.v three or four hours in daytime, and "no night feeding." We know of no Plunket Nurse or mother, who, having had practical experience of both systems, entertains any doubt whatever as to the great advantages of longer intervals and unbroken rest at night. Further, years of experience at the' society's Baby Hospital have been entirely confirmatory.

Qlaxo Builds Bonny Babies.—Advt.