OUR BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2407, 23 January 1909, Page 9 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

Published undor the auspices of the Society for tbo Promotion of 'tins Health of Women and Children. THE CURS E 0 F SUM ME R. SUMMER DIARRJ.KEA. Diseases and death play havoc with babies and calves, especially iu the summer. '.Why.?'. Why should (liarrhowi .single out two aiicl the rest of nurslings more or less exoimit from the special curse of summer! in warm weather the young of horses, pigs, clogs,, cats, and the rest ■are almost uniformly healthy, while every other calf is the victim of “se.Hiriiig,” and lew babies escape the same,: scourge under the name of “.summer diarrhoea.” WHY DOES NATURE SINGLE OUT CALVES AND BABIES? Calves are. sacrificed because manl- ; takes cow’s milk for himself. The baby is sacrificed because the mother’s breast is denied to it also, .and improper food, contaminated with germs, is substituted for the puro, perfect, blood-warm, living stream direct from* the proper source. The important question which wo j have to face at the present moment is this: Are ill-health and diarrhoea inovit--1 able during summer time for calves j and babies who cannot be breast- | fed? j Certainly not! Iu both cases the trouble arises not from the mere fact of artificial feeding.!but because proper , care is not exercised to secure suit- ! able food and to prevent fermenta- ; t-ion. For babies humanised milk sup- * plies by far the nearest approach to 1 mothor’s milk, and if kept cool and l given according to the directions con- ; tained in the instructions issued by 1 the Society, there would be little risk 'of disease. Even with breast feeding I a baby may suffer from summer diar- ; rhoea, but immediate suitable treat- ; ment for such infants, or of thoso : that have been judiciously fed by j artificial means, soon brings about rc- ! covery iu the great majority of cases. | Among babies who have been irnpro- { perJ.v fed, on the other hand, the risk j of death from an attack of diarrhoea | is verv great indeed, and lasting do- , bility is often left where the baby does j not actually succumb. The following chart shows the en- ' orraous summer increase in the Paris ! death rate from diarrhoea among ! babies under a year old. I A rise in tho death rate among inj fants similar to the above occurs in ! New Zealand during the warm weather, varying with the locality and tho heat of the particular summer. Knowing tho cause the disease is one of the most easily preventable, and tho mother who allows her baby to succumb during the next few months : should feel, in nine cases out of ten, j that she has only herself to blame. It is not Nature nor Providence that j inflicts the curse of summer diarrhoea, i but the mother herself. That this is : literally and absolutely true will be ) realised by anyone consulting the i Paris diagram, which shows that at mid-winter only some 20 babies per week died from diarrhoea, while in midsummer the deaths rose to 258 per week—over 1000 dying in six weeks when the weather was warmest. Among the breast-fed babies the rate for the same period' averaged only 20

“Doctor,” said the ehrewdilooking mail, “how many feet of gas does it take to kill a person?” “That’s rather a queer question, replied tho doctor. “WII7 do you .wish to (know ?”

“"Well, you see, one of the guests at, my hotel used enough of it to 'kill himself; and I want to semi m a proper bill to his executors.'

First Sportsman (with a hig loan of o-amo): “You don’t appear to liav© Kad such good luck as I had. . Second Sportsman (with empty bag) : “NoWl My attendant wasn’t 1 as good a •marksman as- yoms. •

i ' fr.nw«ver even, thcso deaths per week. Uovre' _ of j gno ranee were mainly V 1 ® f ciaUv careless as?|£#:s' £# cs^ass^jt? About half of these more foitunato 2 weie .suckled, and the rest were bottle-fed with milk suppl’<|d,at tho special “Babies'- Milk Depot. In the provinces a similar result has been achieved. Thus Dr. Dutour tin pioneer in Normandy of the rational [•are of babies, including the re of humanised milk, shows that 'vhdet’ao death rate among _ infants arcia -<J 55 for the four principal towns* the death rate among babies .\h0.,0 mothers attended tbc depots and got proper advice and fowl was Jess than 3 per cent.—in other words, onlv onetwentieth of the mortality which took place among the babies whose moilieis persisted in going their own way m spite of warnings and advice. SUMMER IS ON US. Jt is hoped now that we are reaching tlie 'critical summer period for .babies, that mothers in our midst aviJl avail themselves of the printed advice issued by the Society; and also make use of the practical instructions which will be given every Wednesday afternoon at the Karitane Baby Home, Anderson’s Bay, from 3 till 4.30 p.m.* or that they will communicate with the Plunket nurse. It should bo realised that if a baby cannot be breast-fed it should receive properly graded and .nrepared humanised milk from the start. In Dunedin, in cases where the mother’s milk fails, humanised milk, properly graded for the baby, is delivered at any home during the first month of life at Is per week for all the infant needs. The services of the Plunket nurse are always available for any mother who desires advice or help. Nothing can be mono*senseless and absurd than the way m which women subject their babies to wrong feeding until they become ill, and then frantically turn to some other method. If they treated their offspring properly dunng the most risky period of life—namely, the first few months—the rest ™id usually be plain and finite Wllf"’ 0 th ? iMb y fron.W“ntrouElo an + unending trouble and regrets for themselves. DEATH TOLL OF DIARRHCEA. The diagram shows the death toll among the babies in Pari- durbm column r ar ' P W hGight to V -' hi ‘ h the column ascends represents the number or deaths for the corresponding week The weeks, starting at the S e V ear ’ r ro sho " n iu succession bv the figures from 1 ro 52‘along the upper margin. The corresponding seasons are indicated below. The ugures to the left show the number of deaths from infantile diarrhoea among bot-tle-fed babies, and the height of the white columns show the deaths among the breast-fed. It will be noticed that in mid-winter the black deaths ..re only some 20 per week, while hi midsummer they rise to 258 per we d:.

The girl had been three weeks in tho employ of an artistic family, but her time was by no means wasted. Her mistress was giving her instructions as to tho dinner.

“Don’t forget the potatoes,” enjoined the lady. “No, ma’am,” was. the reply ■ “will you ’nr© ’em in their jackets or in the nood?”

“Why,” exclaimed the kind old hulv to the beggar, “are they the best shoes you’ve got?” . “Why, lady,” rephed the candid beggar, “could yor imagine better ones fur dis business? Every one o’ do in holes means nennies to mo.”