OUR BABIES.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 394, 30 March 1937, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

(By "Hygeia.") Published under the auspices of the 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.” BEFORE BABY COMES. The health and fitness of the mothers of the land is a matter of utmost importance—a matter which concerns. l every thinking person. The normal woman is never safer, healthier, fiappier, or more uplifted than during pregnancy. Life should run bright and full at this time. If the habits are simple, sensible, regular, and active there is no ground for worry at child birth. The expectant mother who takes proper care of herself and avoids invalidism is safeguarded all through. Natufe can always be relied on to do her duty kindly and surely if mother does hers. But it is. not easy—it is often impossible—for the mother to do her part alone, or when ill-advised. Dr Cyril V. Pink, in his valuable manual, “The Ideal Management of Pregnlancy,” says: “How strange it is that women should embark on motherhood, the most important work in the world, without any special training. In a profession, such as teaching and dancing, years of training is the rule, but not so for motherhood. Even now the myth persists that despite our artificial conditions of life ia, family can still -be reared by the. light of Nature. Bertrand Rustell has defined the good life as one which is ‘inspired by love and guided by knowledge.’ The life of the mother could not be better described. In the past the knowledge has been lacking. Now things are quite different. More and more we are remembering that motherhood is a high land noble calling—at once a high art and a great science, calling for deep insight, subtle reasoning, warm heartedness, and patient endeavour. As a result of this clearer vision, great strides have been made in parentcraft. Ho'Wever, there are still some mothers who are unwilling to learn, and knowledge cannot be forced upon them. As the desire for guidance and knowledge is laroufed so will further progress become possible. To have built a strong,noble, and healthy body for a citizen of the next generation Is a splendid achievement . . . If we consider how the foundations »f health may be laid in earliest life we shall be led to a comprehensive study of hygiene, for everything which affects the health of the pregnant woman affects also the well-being of her baby.

. Care. Every expectant mother should seek medical advice as early as possible, and it ie essential that she should have further advic-e at regular intervals throughout pregnancy. Motherhood is a normal, natural function, and it is the duty of the mother to make herself as fit as possible to build and bear a healthy child. Throughout the pre-natlal period the tiny being depends entirely on the mother for the materials from which the body is to be built. “Pregnancy tests the integrity of every structure of a woman’s body, and if any part or any one system is unhealthy or aeglccted it will break down under the strain. Here, it should be important, is a system of 'Watching for symptoms of the breakdown of the Physiological functions of the body. It is not a matter of treatment, but of careful watching. It is only on the rarest occasions that one needs to treat a woman in pregnancy so long as she has been carefully supervised. It follows that to understand how to watch for these breakdowns it is necessary to know the physiology of the whole body.” We are indebted to A. Morris Johns, M.D., for the foregoing extract from hte “Practical Points in the Education of the Expectant Mother,” published in “Mother and Child,” May. 1932. If the mother is in good health throughout pregnancy, and has had careful lupervision, she may rightly expect to have a normal pregnancy and a nor mal confinement, and. that her recovery will be quick and complete.

Fresh air, sunshine, and fresh water are free to all, and expensive food or clothing it not necessarily the best. Knowledge is the great need. It is for the fathers and mothers' of to-day to use the help that is offered. At the Plunket rooms in the larger cities there are ante-natal clinics where mothers may attend regularly; in the smaller centres' the Plunks* nurse will gladly g ive advice. It is the earnest desire of the Plunket Society to co-operate through its nurses with the medical profession m this work, and it is the duty of the Plunket nurses to impress on the expectant mother the necessity for regular medical supervision. This need for supervision should be stressed by the nurse when delating with the country mother, who, leading a busy life, often fails to get early into touch with the doctor.