OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 543, 19 February 1913, Page 6

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia)

Published under the auspices of the Society 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 ambulance at the bottom." ■ A MOTHER'S LETTER. Continued. Last week I had to deal with the Thermos Flask, interrupting the further consideration of a."Mother's Letter, which I bad been dealing with in the previous week's column. 1 now return to the letter:— "1 connection with the regular feeding of, using dummies, etc., I think it is the maternity nurses, and not the mothers, who require must teaching For the first fortnight in all cases —in some cases even longer the maternity nurse is 'boss,' and says the foundations of the baby,'a habits, and the mother has to folllow on, very often whether she wants to or not. _ "If not wearying and worrying you. I will explain what I mean . I live in the backblocks, and had to drive 2n miles to my nurse—the only one to be had. When I left her the river was in Hood and the roads impassiable, and for a month I stayed at a boarding house party, and partly with friends. Baby had been trained to night feeding by the nurse, and, for the peace of others, I had to continue.

"My first boy was born in a nursing home in a city. I lived. 96 miles out. At the nursing home the nurse would use a 'dummy' whenever the baby cried. I was" at this, homo three weeks, and then was stranded in the city for another month, owing to heavy rains flooding the river. For the sake of others at the boarding house, I had to continue the 'dummy' and after I got baby home it was a most difficult thing to do without, and meant endless crying.

"My second boy was also born in the city, and that nurße also would use a dummy. The same thing happened, for, owing to heavy rain. I was again stuck., and had to stay at a hotel for over a fortnight, where I had intended to be only one night Here also, for the sake of other boarders, I had to continue using the 'dummy.' However.l did not take it home again wsth me, and the baby started sucking his thumb, and now, though two and a half years old, I can't break him of the bad habit. I have put on gloves for weeks at a time; used mußtard. peppermint oil, etc; pinned his sleeves to his side, etc; but the firs* n'ght I leave off the preventative there he is with thumb in mouth at once

"When the maternity nurses are properly trained regarding such matters it will be much easier for tha mothers, for, as I have shown; some of these nurses not only train the babies wrongly, but teach young mothers, who do not know very much, everything wrong to start with.

"The last nurse I went to was a firm believer is n using Caator oil fre quently for mother and baby. There was a young mother with her first boy there at the same time as myself. and the nurse dosed them both every other day with Castor oil, and told the mother it was the right thing to do. 1 saw her a week or so ago. The baby was always constipated, and so she always had to be giving him oil, or he would net have a motion for three days. I made her a soap pencil and showed her how to use it, and begged her to stop the oil and diet herself, for the baby's sake, with fruit, etc., and she is now doing so, and the baby is improving. She was nearly crying about it. She was a shop assistant before her marriageknows hardly antyhing about babies, and had asked our nurse to tell her all she could, and the use of Castor oil, night feeding, and 'dummy' had al! been well taught her. Many an other young mother will be started wrong by the same nurse I suppose.

"No, 1 am not a member of our society, though I have given subscriptions as a slight 'thank offering' foall that Karitane Hospital doctors and Plunket nurses did for my eldest boy for the time he was under their careto say nothing of the lectures out at Karitane which I attended. I have just given small sums at odd times; but presume becoming a member means an annual subscription. If that is so, I have had so many expenses lately that I cannot do so just now. "Apologising for this long letter, though I wanted to try and convey to you my idea where the teachings required, and thanking the society for all it is now doing and has done for our babies." COMMENT YB "HYGEIA."

I regrat to say that I have other recent letter 3 making similar complaints as to the misleading advice g ; .ven to mothers by maternity nurses, and I have heard many adverse comments my travels. No doubt, we women —all of us—tend tu be very conservative, and w? find it very difficult to get out of ruts which have been well worn for us in the past. So long as the sticking to old ways which have been proved to be wrong affects only ourselves, the ! matter may not be very serious; but | when women who are trusted and licensed to guide and direct mother and to mould the rising generation stubbornly refuse to laarn what is best, and won't mend the erroi of their ways, the matter is one of very grave public concern. Further, it is not fair to those maternity nurses who keep up with the trend of advancing knowledge and carry enlightenment into the home, instead of plunging it into greater darknesß. All right - thinking people must heartily sypmathisa with the mother whose letter I have quoted, and I feel sure that most of our readers will agree that something ought to be done jin the direction of safeguarding 'women sepecially young mothers from the misleading domination of :such maternity, nurses as obstinately refuse to conform to those principles

and conditions which aro known to bo in the highest interests of mothor 3rd child. Further comment on the damage done by the dummy need hot be made at the present moment; but it is only fair to the class of nurae of whom I have been speaking to say that there are huspitala in the Dominion where the use'of the dummy is still allowed, merely to save the nurse or the institution the trouble, at the moment, of giving the baby proper attention or treamtent in other directiona. As long as such vicious habits are countenanced in public inutitutions the struggle or reform must continue to be a very difficult one, and wrongdoers will excuse and shatter them selves behind the wrong-doing of thoao who certainly ought to set the nitfhest example to the community. 1 shall specially dt-al next wnek with the harm donu I" mother an 1 child by the annuo of CwHor oil ay described by our corruapumkmt.

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