OUR BABIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21784, 25 October 1932, Page 2

OUR BABIES

By HyoelA,

Published under the auspices of tho Uoyal New Zoaland Society for tho Health of Womon and Children (Plunkct 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 the utmost importance—a matter which concerns every thinking person. The normal woman is never safer, healthier, happier, 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 childbirth. The expectant mother who takes proper care of herself and avoids invalidism is safeguarded all through. Nature can always be relied on to do her duty kindly and surely if the mother does hers. But it is not easy—it is often impossible—for tho mother_ to do her part alone, or when ill advised.

Dr Cyril V. Pink, in his valuable manual, " The Ideal Management of Pregnancy," 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 or dancing years of training is the rule, but not so for motherhood. Even now the myth persists that despite our artificial conditions of life a family can still be reared by the light of Nature. ... Bertrand Russell 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 and 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 parent-craft. However, 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 aroused 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 of 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 women affects also the well-being of her baby.

ANTE-NATAL CARE Every expectant mother should seek medical advice as early as possible, and it is essential that she should have further advice 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-natal 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 neglected it will break down under the strain. Here it should be noted that ante-natal care, which is eo important, is a system of watching ■ for symptoms of breakdown of the physiological functions of (he body. It is not a matter of treatin but of careful watching. It is only nn 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 his " 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 supervision, she may rightly expect to have a normal pregnancy and a normal confinement and that her recovery will be quid: and complete. Fresh air, sunshine, and fresh water are free to all, and expensive food or clothing is not necessarily tho best. Knowledge is the great need. It is for the fathers and mothers of to-dav 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 Plunket nurse will gladly eive advice. It is the earnest desire of the Plunlcet Society to cd-operate. through its nurses, with the medical profession in 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 bv the nurse when dealing with the country mother, who. loading a busy life, often foils to get early into touch ■n it'll the doctor.