OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 2456, 8 May 1915, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

I TBT Htoeu.l ( Published under the auspices of the I Society for the Health of Women and i Children. i "It in wiser to rut np «, fence at the too of a precipice than to maintain an arniiu- ' lance at tie bottom." [ ADDRESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES , AND SECRETARIES. 1 Wellington.—Plunkot Nurses Pascoe, Seater, and assistant to Plunket ; Nurse Stamper. Society's room, 86 Vivian Street. Tel. 2425. Hon. seoretary, Mrs. Hosking, Hobson •' Street. • Napier.—Plunket Nurse Howell, No. 19 Marine Parade. Tel. 485. Office 1 hours, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, from 2 to 4 p.m. Hon. secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Cameron, 1 Ashcroft View Road. 1 Hastings (Hawke's Bay).—Plunket Nurses Walton and Feutz. Residence and office, Heretaunga Street. Tel. 609. Office hours, 2to 3.30 p.m. 1 Hon. secretary, Mrs. T. 'W. Lewis. Tel. 285. Rawer a. —Plunket Nurse Cully. Hon. secretary, Mrs. J. S. Young, Cameron (street. Wanganui District. —Plunket Nurse Metge. Tel. 949. Office of the society, T.Y.M.I. Buildings, The Avenue. Office hours, 2 to 4 p.m. daily, except Tuesdays; Saturdays, 11 to 12 a.m. Secretary, Miss R. N. Cummins, P.O. Box 84. Uarton. —Plunket Nurse Metge. Every Tuesday. Office of the society, Ingle Bros., Broadway. Tel. 37. Hours, 1.30 to 5 p.m. Hon. secretary, Mi6s Cook, Bond Street. Tel. 64. Dannevirke.—Plunkot Nurse Wright. Hon. secretary, Mrs. Bickford, Bank of New Zealand. Nelson.—Plunket Nurse Morgan and assistant Plunket Nurse Honeyficld. Hon. secretary, Mrs. Nalder, Nile Street, Nelson. Taihape.—Plunket Nurse Jones. | secretary, Mrs. Arrowsmith, Tatuape. j PLUNKET NURSES' SERVICES FREE. THE SOCIETY'S BOOK. Tho society's book, entled "Feeding and Care of Baby," can be obtained from the Matron, Karitane-Harris Hospital, tho Plunket nurses, the honorary secretaries, and the leading booksellers throughout the Dominion. Price,. Is.; posted, Is. 3d. REARING BABIES WITHOUT FRESH MILK. The reader may well exclaim, "What possible use can there be in discussing the question of rearing any infant without fresh milk in a country 'overflowing with milk and honey' " ? Is not the "dairy industry" the pride of New Zealand? Are not our butter and cheese finding their way into all the markets of the world? Is there any spot in the Dominion where (failing mother's milk) good fresh cow's milk cannot be obtained? Places Where Good Fresh Milk May Be Unprocurable, Especially at Midsummer. Strange as it may seem, there are a good many places in New Zealand whore all mothers cannot rely on getting sufficiently fresh and pure cow's milk during the three or four , warmest months of the year. In some of our northern towns—for instance, Auckland and Gisborne, and even as far south as Wellington—the conditions of the city milk supply are such that the Plunket Nurses sometimes find it practically impossible to secure safe milk in certain quarters. They do their best by getting in touch with the most reliable dairymen; but, do what they can, there are times and places where the badness of the local milk supply subjects • babies to undue risks of diarrhoea, especially in very hot ' weather. However, no improvements with regard to city dairies will help the mothers who live ill some of the most out-of-the-way parts of the Dominion, or in tropical countries where oows do not happen to be kept... Some .years ago we were asked, to give advice as to what the mothers should do whose husbands were, employed tunnelling ait the great southern mountain gorge of Otira. Neither cows nor goats were available. Babies who could not be suckled were being fed by means of patent foods or condensed or dried milk hi one form or another. They were not doing well, and the question was asked whether the society could suggest anything that would tend to save these children from the universally recognised evils attendant on the ordinary use of such foods. Preparing Humanised Milk From Unsweetened Condensed, Milk. Dr. Truby King made careful investiand advised feeding for the time being on lines which I shall describe presently. The Salvation Army at Auckland also adopted this method for use in the middle of summer, and the results were reported on all hands to be highly satisfactory. Either "dried milk" or liquid "condensed milk" may be used, but on no account must the condensed milk contain any cane sugar. (Ordinary condensed milk has between a quarter and half a pound of cane sugar in each tin.) The essential of the process recommended by Dr. Truby King consists in combining unsweetened condensed milk with definite quantities of sugar-of-milk • and oil, so as to bring the proportions of each necessary food-constituent into accord with what is found in mother's milk.

The value of a simple recipe of this kind for modifying the most reliable form of condensed milk in such a way as to make it conform as nearly as possible _to the composition of-, human milk, will, I am sure, be appreciated by many mothers who are compelled to resort to artificial feeding, and who,- for one reason or # another, cannot obtain fresh cow's milk._ However, it must always be borne in mind that nothing can justify the use of any form of artificial food for babies in the first nine months of life, if mother's milk is to be had; and, further, that a humanised milk, prepared from fresh cow's milk, is a- more wholesome and natural nutriment than any preparation that can be made from tinned milk, whether dried or merely condensed.

Where avoidable, superheated tinned foods are not to be recommended, either for babies or adults. They are sometimes highly convenient and satisfactory for temporary use; but fresh food is always a matter of supremo importance, especially for babies. If wo are forced to resort to tinned food for a time, it should be safeguarded by the daily use of • some fresh raw food —for instance, raw white of ogg or fresh fruit juice— and the -use of the tinned food should bo replaced by suckling, or feeding with humanised milk prepared from , fresh cow's milk, if opportunity offers. Next week I shall give simple instructions —which can be easily followed by the mother—for preparing Humanised Milk from unsweetened condensed milk. In the meantime I may give a rough idea of the process and the cost.

Any mother can readily prepare the day's food for her baby in a quarter of an hour, and it will bo sepn that the cost is about the same as that of Humanised llillc prepared from fresh milk. An ordinary tin of unsweetened condensed milk, combined with nearly am quarter of a pound of sugar-of-milk and an ounce and a half of oil —say, cod liver oil or olivo oil—will yield four pints of Humanised Milk, having as near as • possible the same composition as mother's milk, and on this the baby will be found to thrive. However, if an infant has to ho fod on such a food for moro than a few weeks, some fresh fruit jnice should be gradually introduced into the rscimea once a day. be-

ginning with a few drops, working up gradually to a teaspoonnil, and eventually to a tablespoonful a day. The cost of the whole of the ingredients for the above recipe will be just over a shilling for making the four pints of Humanised Milk, or, roughly speaking, threepence a pint. What Oil to Use. Almost any form of pure, sweet, wholosome oil is readily digested by babies if thoroughly incorporated with the milk. Castor oil would bo obviously unsuitable; but cod liver oil, olive oil, or even raw linseed oil are all suitable for bringing the fat element up to the requisite standard. Babies rarely object to the taste of any form of oil, unless it is rancid.