OUR BABIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 511, 14 November 1928, Page 4

OUR BABIES

By

Hygeia.

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for j 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. “SAVING THE MOTHERS'’ The following extracts are from an article by Dr. C. W. Saleeby, published in a recent issue of National Health. The article is based on a wireless broadcast address given by him during the Twelfth National Baby Week, held last July, in England. Baby Week is conducted annually by the National Baby Week Council, and is devoted to conferences, public education, and general propaganda of every kind in the cause of mother and child. Dr. Saleeby has been a lifelong worker in the cause of public health, giving his gift of writing and speaking to the task of educating public opinion in fundamental health principles. One must remember that in this article he writes for English people about English conditions, but the simple truths of mothercraft which Dr. Saleeby touches upon are the same the wide world over: “A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS’’ Baby Week this year, for a special reason, might indeed he called Mother and Baby Week, as I have always desired. We human beings are at the head of the order of Mammalia. The human mother does more than any other l'or her infant, which is horn the most helpless and remains the longest helpless of any living thing, though destined to become “the paragon of animals, a little lower than the angels.” The mother is the naturally and divinely appointed saviour of the baby. All attempts to replace her have failed. Our duty is not to replace, but to reinforce her, and in that task we have not yet succeeded. . . . WHERE HAVE WE FAILED? Scores of thousands of baby lives are now saved every year. But if we look at the annual record we find that any substantial Improvement in the last decade and more has been lacking. We have not kept up the rate of progress. The old stagers, like myself, who remember the bad old days, may continue to insist on the contrast with to-day, but that is not enough. We see where we have succeeded. Where have we failed? We have signally failed to save the very young babies. The neo-natal mortality (the mortality of the new-born, say, in the first four weeks of independent existence) remains dreadfully high. . . . Inquiry proves that our efforts fail, even though we arrive on the scene within a few hours of birth, because we are already too late. The baby Is already the victim of infections, intoxications, deprivations which we cannot control. And so we are directed to the mother. Again, the good record with the older babies, the weaned babies, who used to be poisoned with filthy food, is not repeated with the mothers, for their mortality still remains high. And wc perceive that our failure to reduce neo-natal mortality and our failure to reduce maternal mortality are two aspects of one and the same thing. We can only save the new-born by saving the mothers, and If we save the mothers they will save the newborn. The Key of the Problem We are back to where Moses began. The ante-natal period is the key to our problem. The deaths of mothers in child-birth cannot be reduced merely by building bigger maternity hospitals ready for them when their hour comes. No doubt we do need such provision. No doubt we are apt to be too hasty at these times. Everything is speeded up nowadays. We move more quickly, squeeze more into the time, and are impatient with the slow, old ways of doing things. When baby is coming the doctor is busy, the relatives are impatient, the mother is impatient: why not hurry things up a little, as we hurry everything else? It is a great mistake, and it costs many mothers their lives. Nature has her own tempo, and knows what she is about. No however clean and skilfully used, can achieve those vital adjustments which Nature demands. Deadly haste kills many mothers, aud I repeat the old stern warning of one of my teachers nearly 30 years ago against “meddlesome midwifery.” Therefore, let us have more maternity homes where Nature’s tempo can be respected. As a young resident physician in 1801 1 stood in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Edinburgh, silent, and impressed, while the first ante-natal bed in the world was dedicated. Its first occupant, a little rickety woman, sunstarved from smoky Deeds, reached us too late and died, and her baby, in my arms, a few hours afterwards. The subsequent record of that hospital bed has been glorious. There is now an ante-natal word of li> beds. It is called the Ballantyne Ward, after my old teacher, Dr. J. W. Ballantyne, the first man since Moses to know where human IDe really begins. Six hundred and forty-three expectant mothers were treated in it last year. Eord Riddell, the president of the Royal Free Hospital, Bondon, has lately made the excellent suggestion that there should be established there a Ballantyne Ward, rs in Edinburgh, for the expectant mothers of Bondon, in which vast metropolis our Edinburgh example of 27 years ago has not yet been followed. . . . The Care of the Expectant Mother Where should the care of the expectant mother begin? Indeed, it should have begun long, long ago, in her own babyhood. The small girl should have sunlight to make vitamin D in her akin, so that she would not develop rickets. Many young mothers lose their lives, like that poor little woman in Edinburgh, who began to make history, because they are rickety aud thus slightly malformed. In India, as Professor Beonard Hil: quoting Dr, Kathleen Vaughan, told

us at the last auuua’ meeting of tin Sunlight League, many high-caste mothers thus perish because of their secluded lives —starved of sunlight in the midst of plenty—so that their bones become soft and distorted. But there should never be another case of rickets, nor another mother perishing 20 years hence because she was starved of sunlight now. And. during the period of expectancy, the mother should have natural or artificial sunlight for herself and for her baby—for we are learning what the writer of Ecclesiastics did not know: "how the' bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child.” A HEALTHY, HAPPY PREGNANCY What are the necessities for a healthy, happy pregnancy? Good, simple food, with plenty of vitamins; no constipation on any account whatsoever: drastic reduction of fats in the food if morning sickness is troublesome; a proper share of iodine, in iodised salt or otherwise; plenty of rest, little or no standing, hut open-air exercise without fail, no alcohol or tobacco, for these would reach the baby and harm it. Above all, consult a doctor, and let him guide and guard—as, for Instance, in preparation for nursing, i Very simple medical observation may , easily avert the most appalling disasters. Let us have done with prudery, j the devil’s counterfeit of modesty, and let us rejoice that so many wellskilled women doctors are now available to advise their fellow-women at these times. And, finally, let the best | and largest, and airiest aud sunniest i room in the house, be for the arrival of the young scion of our noble race. Patience, then, and cleanliness —the spirits of Lord Lister and Florence Nightingale incarnate, one on each side of the mother's bed. And in a j few hours may she have her infant in her arms and at her breast, showing us the type and source of all the goodness in any of us—to save and serve the weak and helpless of any age in any place. We are a generous and kind-hearted people, but perhaps we might achieve more with our soft hearts If we were a little harder-headed. Most of our charitable expenditure is of a kind which must be forever repeated. A tiny fraction of what we spend on palliation would achieve marvels of prevention. The causes which kill many mothers damage far more. We citizens pay for that damage later, trying to patch and prop up the broken lives in the special hospitals for women. CREATIVE HYGIENE —OUR AIM TO-DAY Our baby campaign is developing beyond the stage of a quarter of a century ago, when our boldest dream was to stop summer diarrhoea. Today we aim at more than preventive medicine we aim at creative hygiene. We are beginning to achieve the building up of young bodies and minds which are largely proof against disease, and which will not contribute to the dreadful need for charity in after-years, but will be among the constructive and charitable themselves. . . . REDUCE YOUR BILLS BY SAVING THE GAS In order to save a heavy gas bill, you must practise various little economies which, however, will not cause any inconvenience. And you must understand your gas cooker from A to Z. When the gas oven is working, it will burn as much gas as two of the regular burners, therefore you should use it to capacity, baking the vegetables as well as the meat and pies. By turning the light very low, you can make a sort of fireless cooker of your own. A cake will often finish off in this heat and be beautifully cooked through. The Colour of the Flame The colour of the gas flame should be blue. If it is yellow, there is something wrong with the burner, and you should ask the gas company to remedy this. Another point—how often do you practise economy with regard to boilipg? When the contents of kettle or saucepan are boiling, the merest glimmer of a flame will keep them boiling. To rattle away water in kettle or pan only causes needless evaporation and great waste of gas. Remember, also, that gas flames should not be allowed to spread round the sides of the vessels. Other Economies An easy economy Is to get a piece of sheet iron 10 or 12 inches square. Place this ever a gas ring. When hot, it will keep three or four pans boiling at once. Close the oven door gently, especially when the tap Is low. The higher flame of a gas ring does not mean the greater heat. A safe guide is to see that the flame is level with the top of the stove. This will secure maximum heat and minimum waste. . Wipe off grease or spilled liquids at once with a pad of newspapers. Use crumpled newspapers, also, to wipe the stove thoroughly once a week. Polish with a piece of flannel.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE SHOES?

A pinched foot and a pained face’ Sagging stockings and a furrowed forehead! The one inevitably accompanies the other, and the combination ruins the effect of the most attractive ensemble. It is, therefore, extremely important that careful attention bo paid to the selection of suitable footwear. The idea of visiting a reaily good shoe shop and getting the assistant to measure you for a •'trial pair” of shoes is a good one. If this pair proves entirely’ satisfactory, ask the assistant to have a last or mould made exactly to these measurements, and in future have all your walking boots and shoes fashioned on this last or mould. Many women have adopted this course with excellent results. The new “collar” boot Is good for doubtful weather. It is made to cover the ankles, and with a little turn-over “collar” which may be pulled up for further protection if necessary. Country women will find boots of this type’ especially useful; they do not look or feel clumsy, yet they provide just the additional resistance against weather conditions which is often essential. They can be obtained with high or low heels as desired. Stockings are the greater problem for the majority of women who must look well-turned-out on a limited dress allowance. Frankly, I would rather see a really good pair of lisle stockings than a palpably inferior pair of silk ones, quite apart from the fact that the former will last about four times as long as the latter. Both lisle and silk stockings are now made with very shapely pointed heels, which, besides giving longer life, produce an effect of desirable slimness. The double point is even better, and is the latest development along these lines. Instead of the single point rising straight up from the centre of the heel, there are two slim points rising one on each side. It is worth while to try this type of stocking if your ankles are inclined to be thick at the back. One little hint: if your legs and ankles are not as slim and shapely as you might wish, avoid light coloured stockings! The darker the stocking, the slimmer the appearance. That is why a good many smart women are wearing stockings of fine black silk, or those in a lovely shade of golden brown. —G.P. BACHELOR’S WHIMS NEW EUROPEAN PLAYGROUND Mrs. Eystan Berg, who is at present In Australia, tells an amusing story of Petro Nobel, son of the Nobel prizegiver, whom she met in Leningrad. A bachelor, of magnificent tastes, he used to pay large sums of money to beautiful women to accompany him to the theatre and be seen dining with him. But he was insistent that the number be plural, and the beauties be dazzling. Petro also complied with the rule of the day which said that all modern paintings which included nude studies must be covered up—•>« he used a curtain on rings, which could be drawn back for the benefit of visitors. Antibes, another of those new holiday places which spring out of obscurity into fashion almost overnight, has been initiated into the art of aquuj planing, and one of the most skilful exponents is the brother of Anthony Prinsep, husband of Margaret Bannerman, at present in New Ze alarm. Coffee colour is the latest in skin tones, and there is much competition among the women to see who can acquire the most even hue. One youn» American caused a sensation by weariug a white satin gown, in straiL contrast to her sunburned skin. Antibes has lured Somers Maugham and W. J. L» ke to j shores, and the literary company j eludes Lloyd Osbourne, stepson _ Robert Louis Stevenson, and Phuni” Oppenheim. d The European playgrounds watering-pbaces are nothing u complete. Women who leave colder climates to bask in the shine like to stay (jut of “? or i, cs . much as possible, and at •* u . " s iy Pins the bathing beach is luxurio equipped. Milady can even b> v ® manicure executed while she » the sun. At Deauville, one created something of a sensatio appearing in a costume made ent of blue celluloid leaves.