OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 191, 8 May 1920, Page 5

OUR BABIES

)"BY HTO3U.I Published under the auspices of the Eoyal Now Zealand Boclety for the * Health of Women and Children". "It Is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to'maintain an . ambulanco at the bottom." ;' A'BABY SUFFOCATED. *n spite of »U our teachings with regard to tho necessity for pure, fresh, cool air day and night it would appear that the practice by parents of taking little infanta into bed with them is still far from ■uncommon. , ' The following is a nowepaper account of tlio Coroner's invcatirration into tho death of an infant in Duiiedin:--ACCIDENTALLY OVERLAID Iff EflDThe deposed that the baby was born on W""dny nwrn'nc. It was a healthy child. A St. Helens nurse attended at the birth, but had left by Thursday, and th« baby slept with him and is wife. When b.9 went to bed at 9.45 he save the wife a basin of gruel. Tho child was lying on her arm, and . eeomed to be all right. He wolic at about 2.16, when the mother was shifting the baby, lie remarked that it was very quiet, and he took its arm and found it a little cold, Examining closely, they saw the child was dead. One arm was stiff.- He Ti"!; no St. Helens' Hi'sp!^l- - Dr. Siedebcrg arrived about 9.30 When he gavo the message the child was dead. His wifo bad reared eight children without anything happening, and it was their practice to keep a. baby in bed with them till it was a,' month old. Dr.'Emily"Su-fleWr dopise'l th.it c V was rung up at about 3 in tho morning Inquired 'as to tho details, and found that », St. Helens nurse was at the Ijitin. and that the baby was found dead in ,'tho bed. The' father said ho was ouite.\ siiro tho baby was dead. Had Here been any doubt about it witness would havo gone at" once. She called in Ib° morning. Before going she rani; >p the matron, and was told the nurse had in the ordinary way warned the mother against keeping the child with her iji bed." Jt,was tho usual precaution,'hut not. always .obeyed. /"When, witness ,'saw tho baby it had been' dead 6ome hours There was nothing to indicate abnormality, and there were no marks of injury. Witness could not oronounco a, definite opinion as to the cause of death, Overlaying tho child seemed to be tho -only possibility—that or heart failure- . The appearances were consistent, with asphyxia. ; WAENING BY' DOOTOIt AND COBOXEB. . The Coroner: -Have you any definite view "as to tho practice o£ keening oabies in bed with the mothers .■-.;.• .Dr. Siedeberg: It is -a very pernicious practice. Tho more tho public are warned against. it the better. To lose a fine hcnlthy .baby like this seeniß a. terrible ttate of affairs. Dr. Drenrian, Professor of Pathology. Otago Hniversity, Eaid that he held « post-mortem examination. The body was £»11 -nourished ;and'well developed, 7lb. 12oz. Death .was caused- by asphyxia. Jr. Bartholomew, the Coroner, said ri» verdict would be that,the death was acci;rt"ntally. duo to nsnhyxia. It was anotK'" case pointing to the danger of a, child Sleeping in bed with its -. parents. It wu a patinfaotory to know that the St.'Htff"'* nurses-warned their patients against the jiractice. _. In the present caso t.hn mother, having reared eight children, would be-likely'to. pay but. little attention. ' A ~Tn«» of this sort would further call afr tention to the tmdesirability"of tho practice. ■ •• MEMO. BY "HYGEIA." -■ ' •'.A case, such as the above is so trario that people tend to lay the emphasis on the wrong jwint-namoly, tho -untimely death-of one-baby, not the damage done to_tens of hundreds who escape actual suffocation. It is,not the occasional death fr . om overlaying, which is most to be denl°Ji '•* ?\ tho » in;lur y dono to the health » ? J^ hty ? J yp 0 , ,1i1d allowed to sleep in bed. wth its parents or euardaans. Tho child lies. all night fa a damp, muggy, suffocating .atmosphere Which is enervating to an extreme Se^S.' na£l fo° . P f.° ple who areue that natuiartor all young mamjnals to nestlo besidp their mothers during^sleet"aidI it fsXTZ 8 t0 ° ( ccur;t 2 &™ L'ith nly croatur e who covers himself ™LV% opy of bed-clothing, and ttw prevents tho natural escape *wS gesture and the gLs m