OUR BABIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 49, 26 February 1918, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

£*.<■: ,By ,Hygeia. •

Published unier tha auspices of the Royal New Zaaland Socioty for tha Healths of Women and Children. "It is wisir to put np a fenca at th« top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." PR!-; NATAL CARE. .The following extracts from a narticle entitled "When Does Baby's Life Begin?" by Mrs Anna. Steese .Richardson, which appeared in the Pictorial Review, will interest many of our readers. In the States of America, particularly , in Boston, a great work has heen . carricd on among Prespeetive Mothers with the most encouraging results—both mothers and babies deriving much benefit, and the infant mortality rate being very considerably diminished where -such work has been undertaken. We hope that the American way of putting things wiil arrest the attention of somo who may have given little heed to what lias been written on the subject in this column. MRS. RICHARDSON'S ARTICLE. . "In travail shalt ffioii bring forth children," cried an outraged Deity to theworld's first mother. "In ignorance-, shalt thou attain motherhood, . added society to the women who. came after her.. . . Snjalli wonder that,... under this double .civilised nations have steadily deteriorated.: The. -Divine edict weakened women through" £par .of. pain, and society's ban of mys£sry prevented any intelligent preparation; for the supreme event of .- -'. Resului.. The present alarming rate of inianfY.TfLQrtaiity, ,tlie inexcusable waste of mother-strength in een:i-invalidism, due largaly_to lack of and the very common, belief that, the life of the child and the "responsibilities of the mother eta-"t together the day on whioh the baby comes into the world. In. reality, the baby's life begins in the hour of, . conception, and the mother's responsibilities in the hour ■when she realises that she ia to bring a little child into the world. Her baby's health is grounded in pre-natal care. Science "had developed marvellous preventive . measures in dealing with the expectant; mother,. and, fortunately for unborn children, women are beginning to learn,of these measure- and to demand, them-.. - \Aiyoung vrife who had been petted,by parents and a doting husband exercised no f:elt-i:ontrol nor will-power before her baby, was born. She gave , up all exercise, all recreation, her time in bewailing'her ,fate, "principally in bed or on a lounge,, ■with a novel ,or magazine for companion. Naturally she developed insomnia, for which a long-suffering family doctor, who was not permitted to discipline her, gave her soothing drugs. Her baby struggled feebly for life, but died wiinin 4S hours of birth.-- The yonng mother is now a semi-in valid. By contrast, here is the testimony of a correspondent. . "Thanks to your suggestions for prenatal hygiene, I am better than I have ever been in my life. As I -wrote you, my life before marriage was spent in a business office, and I was in bad condition nervously and physically. But when I learned. that my baby's health would depend npon mine, I determined to be w*>:l. and, for the first time in my lite, f led a systematic, normal existence. I removed indigestion by diet, exercise, rmds drinking water. I improved my circulation with regular exercises in the frenh air. I even slept out*3ors in. a. little r- prrt we built over the kitchen extension* <

"My "baby is fine, and you'd _ never j think I graduated from a neurotic office j girl;into a healthy mother, just through j pre-natal care." * j "Read this story of a young wife who j fought, "and . conquered tuberculosis j through pre-natal care. - She was always J a delicate girl, but- no one, herself least > of all, suspected .tuberculosis. Allien it developed—almost simultaneously with j the knowledge that she was to become a mother —she showed a .strength of will . and > courage, that few. girls can .boast. j •She induced her husband, to move to r the highest suburb near the city where i he had an office. There she took the j outdoor cure. Her health improved ; steadily, her child was born normally, j and in neither ie there trace of the t dreaded white plajjge. ... . { If. pre-natal ■•are, hygienic living, ; correct; 'diet, and the proper mental atti- j tude can overcome such obstacles to j safe, healthy- .motherhood as are d«- j ecribeii in these cases, what, can it net j do for tlto normal mother and her tin- ! born child? What should the prospective mother do first ? j . reputable phvsi'ian. T t is not economical j to wait- until the eleventh hour to en- | gage or- consult a physician. Prevention f is true economy. Xi'will cost _ to I prervent a complication than to relieve j it.-. . ' " -* •" I "We women know perfectly -well •whether we are leading regular hygienic lives.- or whether we are defying the simplest laws of Nature. If you are eating food that does not agree with you,' simply because you like it, cat those items out of your diet. Indigestion and,all ailments-of the intestinal tract increase the discomfort of the expectant mother.If you have a tendency to overdo, to work, or to exercise for pleasure until you are "dead .tired,' 'o-s so women* will, now id. your time to cultivate the habit of i;eet\_and repose. Sleep - eight hours each night, take a regular rest if. you „carmot> sleep inthe'mid.-af'- jternooii.'- arid, learn to .sit down ae„ much; as TXjsriWo.at.yonr.household t ; asks.. Woni6u can Wain ihjpnieelves.to wash disheo, prewar© -vegetables. ;and iron while; seated * on. a chair. 01:. stool properly "adjusted.,to sink or table. , -_ On. the other Hand, if you are sluggish and .mathetic; now is the time to rouse yourself-, for the. good ..of your circula,-; tion. i'iafche - once , a day and rub . the. flesh with a rough, towel. Walk and r work futdors when the weather perinits.. Tlie woman who has a small garden m:<v connt. this as an asset in prenatal care. The woman who has no garden in which to work should take brisk i walks, not for shaping or visiting, but j for exercise, for an. hour or two each day. "We shall continue Mrs Richardson's article next week. Meantime we would again call attention to the New Zealand Government Book for Mothers. THK <',QYF,RN.MRNT HOOK FOR MOTHERS. -'Tim Expectant Mother and Baby's Fir=st Month." prepared bv the Society and >i by the-Public Health Department frc-t- of charge, can he obtained on application (including for postage) from the Matron. Karitane-Harris Hospital, the Plunket Nurses, the Honorary .Secretaries of the Branches, and the Re-

gistrars in the principal towns. The Society specially anxious that every prospective mother should receive a copy of this little book long before the birth of her baby, and we feel fare that if this is done very great- benefit will accrue to mother and cbiid and much trouble and sickness wi'.i be i >:wented. Our readers will do a good service if they draw the attention of any of their friends ,who would be benefited- by the book, to the fact that it may be had 011 application. TliePlunket Nurses will be glad to see expectant mothers, either at the Society's Rooms or in their own homes. The nurses' se>-vii-.es are free.