BABY’S OWN MOTHER THE BEST NURSE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28752, 25 November 1958, Page 2

BABY’S OWN MOTHER THE BEST NURSE

(New Zealand Press Association)

MASTERTON, November 24. The best nurse was a baby’s own mother, said Professor H. M. Carey, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the National Women’s Hospital, Auckland, in an address to a special meeting of the Wairarapa Hospital Board. Professor Carey said that “rooming-in” at a maternity hospital was important in reducing infection, as a mother was the safest person to handle a baby. At the National Women’s Hospital, he said, 95 per cent, of mothers who had tried the nursery and rooming-in systems were strongly in favour of rooming-in. Research had shown that the nursing staff could be a source of danger in spreading staphylococcal lesions—the H-bug. Rooming-in meant that, as far as possible, no one but the mother handled the baby. The advantages of rooming-in were that the baby received individual attention, the mother became more familiar with the baby’s needs, the baby was fed when necessary, the mother was not anxious about her baby, and there was far more flexibility in ward routine. “The best nurse is a baby’s own mother,” said Professor Carey. “If she has not got a lot of ‘grey matter.’ she has the maternal instinct.” Experience in Auckland had shown that rooming-in gave the mother more rest than the nursery system. With rooming-in the mother fed her baby as soon as it awoke, and then both mother and baby slept until the next feed. No Mass Production Babies were not mass-produced —each was an individual and required food according to its own capacity. Babies did not cry unless they were hungry or uncomfortable. Under the nursery system, a check had shown that a baby had cried for three hours until it was fed. This expended a lot of the baby’s energy. Research had shown that babies put on weight better under rooming-in and a mother was more confident in handling the baby when she left the hospital.

Professor Carey said it had been discovered that the H-bug was a new mutation which occurred in Australia in 1953. Of 1000 babies checked during six months’ research. 22 per cent, had some staphylococcal infection on leaving the hospital. The problem was more extensive than was appreciated.

He emphasised the need for keeping down concentrations of minor infections in maternity wards. He said that a baby was sterile when bdrn and the infection was picked up in the hospitals. New Organisms It had been proved, he said, that the mother was the last place from where infection could come. A baby was born with the same antibodies as the mother. When a nurse handled a baby, she introduced new organisms to the baby and the baby had no antibodies to combat them. It had been found that the staff carried nasal and pyogenic strains. Research had shown that one out of nine nurses was a danger. The greatest degree of danger from airborne infection was when the babies were being bathed. The only answer was not to bath babies in the nursery. A number of Masterton mothers had developed breast abscesses after leaving hospital, Professor Carey said. The infection came from the nurse to the baby and then to the mother. He emphasised the importance of washing the hands frequently and was critical of the practice of nurses wearing masks in the wards. He said they were a snare and a delusion if not properly used. Masks were useful for only 20 minutes.