OUR BABIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 54, 4 March 1918, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

By Hygeia. Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Seciety for the Health ef Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." PtRE-NATAL CARE. Last week we made some extracts .from an article by Mrs Anna S. Richardson on "When Does Baby's Life Begin?" We now give th e remainder of her remarks on the subject. MRS RICHARDSON'S AKTICL/E. (Concluded.) MATERNAL, IMPRESSIONS. Hundreds of women write to me about accidents, shocks, sights,, and so forth which they fear may' mark the unborn child. Science has long since proven that the formation of the child —and by that I mean what a mother might call its. anatomical structure—is settled practically in the hour of conception. A child is not marked 1 or malformed , later by any shock suffered by th© mother. If such a sad things {happens, it is a coincidence, not the result of the shock to the mother. On the other hand, many more women write that they are hysterical and; nervous, irritable and tearful, and they lay these conditions to prospective motherhopd, not to their lack of self-con-trol, which will work serious damage to the unborn child. Th e nervous, hysterical wojnan does not digest her food properly, and indigestion in the mother means lack of nourishment for the chil'd. Nervousness and- hysteria are mor e dangerous to the unborn child 'than shock or fright. WE MUST INTEREST-PROSPEC-TIVE MOTHERS.

j This article has not been written to explain in detail th e various steps in •pre-natal care. It aims only to interest prospective ihother& in the marvellous power of prevention' which lies behind that phrase, pre-natal care. The right sort of care for the mother means health for*-, the baby, and that is why the second great day in a baby's existence .is. t/he one on which the woman learns that she is to bear child, and her responsibilities begin. American physicians cfPb fighting to safeguard l babies by various methods. Reforms, however, can come only with co-operation between progressive phytsicians and earnest, intelligent women. This will be given by women directly they understand the possibilities, the beauty, the optimism of motherhood] through better pre-natal care. And before understanding must come information, intelligently, enthusiastically given,., a campaign being carried on by public health officers in many States. At a recent-gathering of medical men a prominent physician was quoted as decrying the present-,day system of public 'health education through • public health officials', welfare workers, Tne ! lay press, and 1 so forth. All such work, ! he explained l , should be controlled by j graduate physicians. j

WOMEN'S RIGHTS. The average physician intelligent" enough to conduct any sort of a public health education, campaign is too busy! with private practice and teaching work in the nearest medical school. Health) officials and welfare workers are merelypassing ori to the public the truths of sane, sai e living which doctors' have been urging on their px-ivate patients. It is now too late for any physician or medical body to stem the -rising desire for knowledge on the '.part of girls and women who "will some day become mothers. They demand' the right to safeguard themselves and their unborn children,, and the -higher their standards of pre-natal care and hygienic living, the more i will they appreciate higher standards of medical service. Superstition ilies out of • the window when intelligence comes .in at the.'door. For generations motherhood has. been, shrouded! in . superstition, tradition, signs, and omens, to'the detriment of both mother and child.

But. the age •of dark magic, in motherhood and' in all medical practice has passed.'. / - . If you want a healthy .baby, study pre-natal care, and; live what you learn. Bear in mind 1 that it is less- expensive to guard - your health and l your baby'sbefore your baby comes into th e "world than to employ high-priced specialists to correct defects or reduce ailments that might never havp come if preventive measures had been taken. THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BOOK FOR MOTHERS. "Th e -Expectant Mother and Baby's First Month," prepared' by- the Society and issued .by the Public Health Department free of charge, can be obtained on application (including l£d for •postage) from the Matron, KaritaneHarris Hospital-, th 0 Plunket Nurses, the Honorary Secretaries of the Branches, and the Registrars in the principal towns. The. Society; is* specially anxious that -every : prospective mother should receive a copy of this little book long before the.birt'h of her baby, and we feel sure that if this is done :very great 'benefit will accrue, to mother and child, and. much trouble andsickness will be prevented. Our readerswild 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 on application'.

The Plunket Nurses will be glad to see expectant mothers cither *t the Society's room or in their- own homes. The nurses' services- ;are. free.