OUR BABIES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 12 January 1931, Page 8

OUR BABIES

INFANTILE DIARRHOEA BY HYGEIA Published under tho auspices of tho Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” Year after year the Plunket Society has published' articles emphasising the important points in this matter —points with which all parents should be familiar. Year after year the Plunket nurses lay stress on the same fundamentals —the supreme importance of natural feeding in the prevention of this 500111-1*0; the simple essentials for keeping baby pretty well “germ-proof”; the necessity tor extra scrupulous cleanliness and care in (lie keeping of 'milk and all things-per-taining to the feeding of the baby in the summer months; the significance of early signs of 1 rouble and tho importance of prompt li-eatment; also practical advice as to the best, simple or emergency treatment. Statistics show that the average death rate from infanlilo diarrhoea- for the whole of Now Zealand varies from onetenth to one-twentieth of the average for the rest of the civilised world, and has fallen to two-thirds oE what it averaged only a few years ago—eloquent testimony to the high standard of infant caro and mothercraft knowledge.

BE PREPARED However, we must not let these reassuring statistics lull us into a sense of false security. In the course of the next few weeks we shall again put forth our explanation, warning, and instructions, so that they may come before those parents who have not so far realised the importance of the subject, and he fresh in the minds of the mothers of this summer’s babies. As a disease affecting babies, summer diarrhoea is a most serious and deadly danger. In New Zealand it occurs mainly from Christmas to the middle or end of March, the number of cases depending on the temperature. During a cool summer the number is comparatively low; if the summer is hot the number may rise very high. WHY IS THIS? Why should summer not he the safest, instead of the most dangerous, time of year for infants? The reason is simple! Most babies are fed on liquid food, which is specially liable to ferment in hot weather. Milk becomes infested with germs—in other words, goes had and becomes poisonous, more readily than any other food. The hotter the weather the more the germs grow and flourish in milk, and if we are not careful in the selection of a milkman, the cleansing of billies and jugs, and the place where the milk is kept it may go bad in hot weather even before we are ready to use it.

Tainted pasteurised milk is even more dangerous than unheated milk which has gone sour in the ordinary way. Therefore we must be just as careful to keep bottled city milk cool and loosely covered (not capped and sealed from access of air) as we are with ordinary dairyman’s milk. Babies who die from summer diarrhoea die because they are poisoned—mainly by germs contained in tainted milk acting on babies who have nob been kept in such a state of first-rate health and condition as will enable them to resist tho attacks of germs. All epidemic diseases, including summer diarrhoea, tend to attack the bodily “unfit” rather than the “fit”; hut babies who are perfectly well may fall victims.

WHY DOES NATURE SINGLE OUT BABIES AND CALVES?

Ir warm weather Uic young of horses, pigs, clogs, .and cals are almost uniformly healthy, while calves are the victims of “scouring,” and babies still suffer or die from the same scourge under the name of “summer diarrhoea.” Why? Calves are sacrificed because man takes the cow s milk for himself and feeds the calf out of a bucket. The baby ; is sacrificed because the mother’s breast is denied to it, and improper food, contaminated with germs, is substituted for the pure, perfect, blood-warm vital stream direct from the proper source._ Are ill-health and diarrhoea inevitable during summer time for calves and babies who cannot be suckled? Certainly not! In both cases the trouble arises, not from the mere fact of artificial feeding in itself, but because proper care is not taken to secure suitable food and to prevent the growth of germs. For babies, properly prepared humanised milk supplies by far the nearest approach to the mother’s milk, and if kept cool and clean and <dven according to the directions issued 1m the Society there is little risk of trouble. Even breast-fed babies may contract the disease, but immediate suitable treatment of such, or of those who have been judiciously fed by artificial means, _ soon brings about complete recovery in the great majority of cases. On the other hand, among babies who have been improperly fed the risk of death is very great indeed, and lasting weakness and debility is often the result even if the baby docs not die. This is a point which should* never be forgotten. Infantile ailments leave lasting ill-effects, even if they arc not fatal. We cannot afford to expose our babies to the risk. THE PLUNKET NURSES . The Plunket nurses’ services are free to all. They are glad to see mothers and babies at the Society’s rooms in the various districts throughout the Dominion. If you are travelling or away from your usual place of residence, do not hesitate to take babv to see the Plunket nurse in whatever district you happen to be. She will heln and advise you on exactly the same lines as your own Plunket nurse does. If you are out of reach of a nurse, write to the nearest one, or to the nurse with whom you have previously been in touch. Of course, if baby’ has more than a passing upset, or you are in any doubt, always consult a doctor—do not lose valuable time before getting advice. PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT Do not miss the next two articles to bs published in this column. We shall deal further with the prevention and simple treatment of diarrhoea.