OUR BABIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 77, 5 August 1913, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.) Published under the auspices ol the Society for the Health of WomeE 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 DAY WITH THE PLUXKET NURSE, / By N. [ was interested in the work of the Plunket Xurse, and anxious to know something of her method of procedure, so it was arranged that I should accompany her on a certain day,-as she wont round. We set out at 9 a.m., and first went to a house in which the baby had been circumcised the day before. The mother was nervous, and nurse had undertaken to call in and bath the baby. This was duly done, and fwsh dressing placed on the wound. We left the baby clean and comfortable, quietly taking his drink, and the mother content that baby was doing well. In an adjoining street we saw a baby two months old. The milk had never come, and he had '■ been started on humanised, in weak solution (one part of humanised in two of boiled water), on the third day. The first week he lost lib, remained as he was the second, gained 4oZ tho third, and had put on Jib each week since. Pie had reached full strength humanised by the time he was one month old. Xurse weighed him, and his mother said he was as good as "gold, perfectly content, and sleeping splendidly; so re passed on. "1 wish I could get them all from the commencement like that," said Xurse; "it saves so much unnecessary trouble." '■'But l what about the breast-fed babiosP" I asked. "They have the best chance, of cource, and generally escape,the sad adventures of so many of the other poor woe mitts. But even so, one can do a good deal on their behalf, an there are lots of little things the mothers want to know, especially in the case of a first baby." "The baby here," continued Xurse, as we went into another gate, "is a case in point. The baby was cross, ahd the mother worried,- and imagined all sorts of'things were wrong with tho child. That, of course, affected the milk, which upset her baby, making her a great deal worse. When 1 explained this to the mother, she was grea*iy'surprised. / I-also found that her original crossness was due to unsuitable 'clothing. She, had . ah' irritating wodlleh garment next the skin, and was hound' so- tightly in one of those horrible,- stiff binders that the poor wee 'thing couldj lhardly breathe. Both w§pngs- were righted. A silk-aiid-vroo-lrve&r was put under the other, and the binders were discarded. ' The result is a 'good* baby." Both.mother and baby were well, so our visit was short. It was a good' long >va.y to the next house, and meantime Nurse told me "about the littlt ■ patientthire. In nibtherV milt was insufficient, "and the baby, when c t ! \vo week6"bid,'' ,! was given' coav's milk andAvater, ; h!ilr''-'and half, to make, good- the •deficiency. , , Sht became jVcry sick, and the stools were green and- so. it. was decided that the two milks didn't agree, and the mother's milk -was abandoned. The baby became worse, so they said milk did not-suit her, and tried a patent food. The stools continued to be green; she\was habitually cross and restless, and did not thrive. When she was seven weeks old Nurse wascailod in. Under- her directions the baby was given nothing but boiled water for 12 hours, and sugar solution for the next 12 hours. Then- she was given humanised milk No. • 1, tc which two parts of' boiled water had been added. ' She* was' restricted' to three-hourly feedings, and allowed e little sugar solution -between time*, when' she seemed' hungry. She losl 6 07.. the first week, and gained nothing the second; but the sickness stopped; and the motions became normal. By tho end of the'third week she had reached full-strength food, and had gained Jib. For some weeks now she had gained lOoz each Aveek. Wo found her in her pram, on the verandah, looking quite bonny. "How has she been this week " the Nurse asked her mother. "Just splendid/thank you, Nurse. She sleeps all night now, and is so contented. Really, you wouldn't know her, had you not seen the change. She is so different! I hardly know myself, either," she continued, "I feel so well. But how I wish I had known about humanised milk before!" "Yes," said Nurse, "it would have saved both you and baby a lot of suffering, and you needn't have; put-away your milk, as mother's milk and humanised milk agree excellently. Howover, it's no use 1 crying over"—but the sentence was interrupted by a crow from the baby. She-was weighed, and showed her usual gain, and smiled-to us as we said "Good-bye." "We're going nOw," said Nurse, ''to a homo where I haven't been able to do much so far. The mother is afraid of fresh air, will persist in keeping windows shut, and lets the baby sleep in a hot kitchen." "Then why do you continue going?" "Because I have hopes yet of being able to convince her that he would thrive far better if he" got sufficient I oxygon, and if I succeed it means so rr.r-ch to him." | To Nurse's delight we found the baby sleeping outside! "Oh, yes, ho's beer out several times now," said his mother, with a smile. ".And you don't find him <any the war;/.-?"'

"Well, no, I think-'he sleeps better! Do you want to weigh him:''" "No, don't disturb him," said Nurse, "he's better where he is. The air will give him a good colour." "He's breast-fed," she told mo, as we went on, "and his greatest neod is fresh air. I wouldn't have him brought in unnecessarily on my account." "I'm so glad to soq you, Nurse!" said the next mother. "I've been worried about baby, he's so constipated." "Is he having his orange-juice regularly?" ' "Yes, and he likes it, too!' ' "And you rub his abdomen with warm oil?" "Yes, every day; but he hasn't had a, motion for two days, and he's been dreadfully cross." "He'd certainly be cross while in that condition. We'll give him an injection right away." This was successfully done, «ind baby was relieved. ; "We'll try him with some Malt Extract," said Nurse. "Give him the fruit juice in the morning, and & teaf.poonful of'malt in the afternoon, either before, or in his food. That should help him." r "I'll get 'it to-day," said the mother. "Thank you, Nurse." "Constipation' is a frequent trouble in the cold weather," Nurse told me, ''but we! can generally overcome it one way or another. t lt doesn't, do to let babies' ebhtinuVlike" that."/' ; ■* Our next call .was fit .'the wcrecy's Office, where Nurse found a couple 3f letters from country mothers, who Wanted advice, and a message from another mother who wanted her to •dall-iu the afternoon. • "I must be in the office from 2 till 3," she.«»id, "and will go to that other,case afterwards. I will probably have to show' the mother there bow tbvnake humanised,' but in the meantime wG'wiirgo and get seme dinner."