OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 283, 24 August 1920, Page 3

OUR BABIES

Published under tho außplces of the Boyal-Now Zealand Society lor tho Health of Women and Children. ; It is wiser to. put up a fence , at the top of a precipice than to ; inaintaln an ambulance at the bottom, . ;. CHILD WELFARE IN AMERICA. - -''»J Pe SEl^ ln New Zealand may wonder why tho Children's Bureau and tho whole Child Welfare movement in the United. States ' f om ea officially under the Department -of Labour. We always wondered about thl« ourselves; and, on asking the question nt Headquarters in Washington, we were told that the Legislature and the Government '■lßjp' cn 'v never heard anything about • children, or recognised their existence, ex< - copt as regards their, wrongs incpnneuUon with long hours and overwork in factories, etc., and the need to legislate for their protection. WHAT THEY DO IN NEW-YORK. . The Central Children's Bureau in Wash- ' Ington and the creat practically indepoud- ■ ent bureaux whioh have; been founded in every State of tho Union, now constitute a. vast network spread over the whole country. Some idea of the magnitude of '. this complex organisation and the rapidity of its crowth can be formed from : tho fact that in the last twelve years the . Children's Bureau in New York has grown from nothing to n staff headed and controlled hv Dr. Josephine Baker, assisted by about 150 doctors, who devote half their time to thiß work, and more than 100 .whole-time visiting nurses and 200- extra nurses. The-latter are mobilised during \the summer months in order-to safoguni-d; babies, .as far as possible, from tho risks of infantile diarrhoea. '■.-■ Our readers will wonder-where ithe 800 supernumerary nurses are drawn Jroiri; This was one of many masterful'measurer ; evolved by Dr. Josephine Baker. The . army of school nurses como under hep control, 'and it occurred to herthat the nature of the duties of'school nurses did not necessitate, their having tho long va-' cations retmired for recuperation In, tho •case of school teacherß, whose lives'are "'more sedentary, nnd involves a greater ,; stress on the brain' and nervous .system.' It was deoided to'keep these nurses \em- ' ployed In what would otherwise be their "su«mer vacation,.. helping to visit the -'homes of perhaps 100,000 mothers of young .children, and thus'.Btaving off disoase in .the most critical season of the year, "' /PREVENTION BETTEB THAN CUBE. The outstanding feature of Dr. Josephins Baker's policy was the recognition from : tho atart that her main duty lay not In /dealing with disease, but in preventing it , by establishing "Well Baby Centres" and "Milk Dopotß, anj by sending round .visiting nurses to train, advise, help, and direct the mothers in their own hdmes. Her nurses go out, as do our ■ Plunket nurses in New Zealand, to teach - mothers the simple laws of life, and health. • When they come across any form of debility or disease beyond the ordinary, range they refer such cases to the doctors,' or get them treated'in hospitals. Josephine Baker's nurses are essentially practical teachers of domeßtlo' hygleno throughout "the homes of the poorer classes in the community; and their work is so well done that, though the density, of population in certain quarters of New York Is three times greater than that of the most crowded areas in-London, the infantile death rate for New York City, has been brousbt Delow that of London. It is impossible to over-estimate the practical significance of this ereat hygienic crusade. ' . , When. In New York two. and a half years/ ago Dr. Truby Kine saw a great deal of Dr. Joßephtne Baker and her staff, and he waß very much Btruck with the harmonious and effective working of the . organisation. ' A letter recently received by Dr. Kin? from Miss'Pattrick (ex-matron at Karl- . tane Hospital end for the last .two years matron of the Baby Ho&nltal in London, founded and run on Now Zealand lines) refers to a visit she had paid to Dr. . Baker in New York. Miss Pattrick wroto from Montreal on her return journey to . New Zealand, where it is hoped she will assume the broad direction of the society's nursing eohemo throughout the wholeDominion. The ! following is •an extract from Miks Pattrick's, letter:— . * "We had five days in New York, and a very busy time. I had a very interesting interview with Dr. Josephine Baker (Head of the Infant Welfare Department) and also with Dr. Sobel. her first assistant. They arranged for one of their superintendent nurses to take.me round various , baby health stations, and to show .me other things of interest. I had quite a long talk with Professor Holt; and he eave me his cards for the Walker-Gordon Milk Dispensary, and also for the Infants' ■-■Hospital. * , ..Dr. Holt, ■- Professor of Children's vDisenses at Columbia University,'and/consulting physician to' several, New York Baby Hospitals. Ib the leading authority ' In America on Infancy and Child Welfare. His text books, both for doctors and nurses are well-known all over the world.

WHAT EEMAINS TO BE DONE. So far almost no attempt has been made in America to educate and help the more Independent and self-reliant four-fifths of, the community—as we do in New Zealand —but this will come in due course. We shall publish later a very admirable American leaflet, "A Problem for Parents,": which sums up in a way which will appeal equally to all . classes, "what trowine children need." It is issued by' the "U.S. Department of labour, Children's Bureau. Washington, 1919. '