SCHOOL FOR MOTHERS

TRYING TO SAVE THE BABY ALL "DUMMIES" BARRED. j However much effort ds misdirected, however wrongly public authorities go about it, there is no doubt whatever of the genuineness of England's intentions to check the awful tally every year of the deaths of babies. Money, or rather the want of it, does not deter those who are trying to save the baby to the State, nor does the ignorance of the mother affright them. They struggle on against heavy odds, and are surely achieving good. The Times, in referring to tho campaign for educating mothers in London, remarks that so far as the public aspect of the question is concerned there can be no question that one of the most useful educational schemes ever launched is that embodied in tho North St. Pancras School for Mothers, which is a memorial to the energy and foresight of the late Dr. Sykes, Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras. Tho object of this school is, primarily, the teaching of elementary principles of health and infant management. As tho "teaching material" employed in the case of each of the mothers is her own child, the scheme is directly and immediately, as well as educationally, valuable. The women in most cases come to the school because their infants are not f thriving. Their primary object is advice, not treatment, and they are. shown that the first condition of healthy childhood is an enlightened motherhood. THE FIRST LESSON. I On the door of the school hangs the prohibition "No dummies admitted." For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be explained that a dummy is an "infant's comforter," and that the objections to its use are that it obscures the real cause of crying and thus prevents this being remedied, that it tends to alter and damage the normal shape of the child's mouth, and that by a continual stimulation of saliva digestion is upset. This is the first lesson. The young mother, having learned it, is admitted to a room where a nurse awaits her. Her child is undressed and carefuDy weighed in her presence, and the importance of the relation between weight and age as an indication of the state of physical well-being is 1 made clear, A chart is then drawn up on which full particulars are entered and the ,baby is sent upstairs to the doctor 1 for examination. This examination constitutes what may be described as the lesson-in-chief upon which all future instruction will be based. It is carried out with great patience and thoroughness, the mother being enlightened as to each imperfee* tion discovered and, by a system of questions, informed concerning its probable origin or cause. A picture of the child's condition is built up in her mind, side by side with a picture of what its condition ought to be, and thus a standard of comparison is instituted. NEED OF FRESH AIR. Most of the children are sickly, suffering from mismanagement, They are pale, have flabby muscles, and are very peevish. In these cases it is first ascertained whether the mother has tho child to sleep with her. If she does, she is told that this habit tends to deprive the baby of its proper supply of fresh air and encourages coughs and colds, leading often to enlarged tonsils and adenoids. The mother is shown how absolutely necessary fresh air is to any child, and assured that the air from an open window is much less dangerous than the draught from the human mouth. Many of the mothers advance the objection to this reasoning that a child which sleeps alone may lie over on its face and choke itself. They are assured that such an event is unlikely in the extreme, and that the power required to choke the average child is much greater than is commonly supposed. A child is capable of a pretty strenuous fight for its life. They are further advised to avoid all tight clothing, which* may interfere with the baby s breathing. DIET AND FEEDING. The i question of diet and feeding is next discussed. This is undoubtedly the most important matter of all, and the advantages of natural over artificial feeding are more strongly insisted upon than any other point in the teaching. The mother is asked to describe exactly how often and when the baby ha 3 its meals, and v whether or not meals are given at night. It is surprising to find in how many cases the children are fed too frequently, even where emaciation seems to be the most important symptom of ill-health. Proper time for digestion must bo allowed before more food is taken, or the food value will bo lost and trouble caused. The saying that "the platter has killed more than the sword" is undoubtedly true. Instructions are given to' feed at long intervals, in order to secure a healthy appetite, and to stop .feeding at night as soon as possible. "It will mean a little trouble at first, but' great comfort afterwards." Many of the mothers are naturally sceptical at their first visit, but comparison between _ tho babies and those of. the older pupils soon convinces them of tho value of the teaching, and subsequent^ visits confirm this belief. The charts in the vast majority of cases show a steady increase of weight and growth, and tho babies a steady improvement in condition. It speaks for the appreciation in which the school is held in the district that old pupils bring new ones almost every teaching day, and that tho number of pupils is increasing to an embarrassing extent.