OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 66

OUR BABIES.

Br Htgeia.

It is iriser to put up * fence at ih» top of a, pi«cipic« than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.

With the above heading a regular weekly jolumn has been published in Dunedin for she last 14 months under the auspices of ihe Society for the Promotion of the Sea/lth Df Women and Children. In reiponse to requests from other branches of sre society, it has been decided to make' the column more widely representative, vhile at the same- time adapting it to the jarticular needs 'of each centre. This will 3e effected by the insertion of "items of special local interest, answers to local correspondents, etc. Our broad aims and teachings have now jeconae well, known throughout the community Tjy means of articles and reports >f meetings which .have appeared from, ;rme to time in the press ; 'but it is de- . sirable that everyone . interested should ibtain the - society^ ~- pamphlet, "The Caie rod- Feeding of tfie Baby," of which over 10,000- copies have "been- printed. This can sow be » procured in pampihlet form from Jie- hon. secretary of the Dunedin branch rf the society, Mrs Keith Ramsay, Royal jerrace. A charge -of 3d per 'copy, made to cover cost' of ' production 'and postage, may^ be sent- in , stamps. In order to prevent our having to repeat over and over again the essential •ules, recipes, and instructions which every mother or nurse should have available for [jonstant use and reference, we shall frequently allude in the column, to passages in the society's pamphlet, and trust, therefore, "that out readers will keep a, copy it hand. WHAT WE UNDERTAKE. The society's aims and undertakings in Bonnection with this column are conveyed n the following quotation from the first ies-ue of "Our Babies," which appeared in [he Otago Witness, 12th June, 1907:— The Society for the Promotion of th© Health • of- Women and Children lias arranged for .a weekly column' devoted to ■ihe baby and its mother. Th© informai "on will be authoritative, reliable, . and abreast of the meet advanced knowledge of the day; and no pains will be spared in the direction of rendering all advice or instruction given as simple and 1 practical as possible. At the same' time, it must be tinderstod that a main object of the society is to stimulate interest and to raise the standard of knowledge and thought among- women on all matters affecting the health of themselves and their- children.- v These aims cannot be carried into -effect by the ~ issue of inero dogmatic assertions or instructions, »nd mothers, can no longer trust to mere instinct: the" complex conditions of modern civilisation demand the exercise of the jght as well if wo are -to save ■the race from a continuance of th© degeneration alrecdy in pa-ogress. This column will Tiot attempt to stifle inquiry . and discussion, but will encourage tihem, under th« conviction that this is the only offective means by which prevailing fallacies, prejudices, and errors of thought) at 1-*1 -* practice can be eradicated and ibhe truth established : a their place. Ultimately the column will be devoted mainly to the answering of questions received from correspondents; but in the meanrime, as an introduction, we shall die<mee certain matters of paramount importance to the i-ace. The first point to emphasise is that jyetioe will never be done to babies until tibe community clearly realises that normal broast-{?edirig is immeasurably better for the health of both mother and child than any system of artificial feeding that lias been or ever will be devised. Even if the mother's own milk were drawn off by means of a breast-pump and given to .the baby through a bottle, half the "benefits of suckling both to mother and child would bo sacrificed, and half the disadvantages and dangers of ordinary artificial feeding would have to be -faced — e.g., cooling of the milk, infection with jniorobes, sucking in of air, etc. THE BABY'S WORST ENEMY. The baby's worst enemy is not lack of affection on the part of the mother, fcut her indifferent health and vitality, iber neglect of the laws of life, and her lamentable ignorance as to the proper oourse to pursue in the > joint interests of hereelf and her offspring. In despair •he burns from one course to another, oblivious of the fact that, as Herbert Spencer says, the regimen to which chil<bren a*e subject is hourly telling on them to their lifelong injury or benefit; «nd for one way of going right in this matter there are 20 ways of going Wtang. Our aim will be to point out she "one way of going right," so far as that way may be known, and to frankly give anyone who may entertain & contrary opinion the opportunity of showing that fhe path we have indicated is not, after all, the best one. If nothing is brought forward to the contrary, we may assume that the advice we have tendered is tacitly admitted to be sound. RETROSPECT. in ffie 14 monthe which have elapsed fines the above was written, and during rtiieh the oolumn has appeared regularly i\&tj week, none of the advice given has t>een refuted or even challenged. On the >ther hand, a growing stream of corrcipondence has been received from mothers Hi all parts of the Dominion showing how (heir babies have flourished under the general care and system advocated by th« lociety. Almost without exception theee 'ettere have contained the names ajid adIresses of the senders, who have usually irritten asking for further advice on &ome ipeoial point. At the present moment, aowever. we hare ii hand two unsigned )ommumcationo from "Lux" and "A iirateful Mother." Correspondonte should tnderetand that no weight can be attached <r»uch anonymous letter*, however apprcliative, since we have no raea.ne of assurng ourselves that they are genuine and Dana fide. Neither names ior a,ddre«scs of Doror-espondenta ar« ever quoted in the Xkhimn withont the expr««e content of the writer*-, r.&mee being asked for merely to >afeisfy our ve&dwe and ourßelvcs thci all etters d«alt with in the eokiair are reiponsible and reliable. Comrnvnicitions ihould be sent tc " Hvg'-ia,"' c.we of the >d>tor Otago Wit-ness. RUPTURE. Several letters luve beer, received from

mothers inquiring about the supposed risks of rupture or hernia arising if the support of an abdominal binder is not coni tinued throughout the early months of infancy. REPLY. The abdominal binder and- other constrictions are unknown in some countries, and it is said that the consequent freedom of breathing and rmiscular exercise causes a rapidity of growth and development during the first year of life practically unknown among ourselves — babies left free able to stand and walk long before those who are hampered and swaddled in the customary way. There should be nothing to impede the absolutely free play of the movements of the trunk and abdomen. The idea of supporting the walk of the belly is absurd. Anything which affords habitual support hampers muscular action and restricts free breathing. The walls of the abdomen, instead of being strengthened, are weakened by the use of a. binder, .nd the tendency to rupture is increased, not diminished. There is rarely any valid excuse for using a binder after, say, .about the first fortnight of life, during which time it may have been desirable. If a special tendency to rupture is present, or if, -there is an actual hernia, a doctor should be consulted, who will treat' the condition himself or explain how it can be cured by the mother or nurse without interfering with health and the vfree and natural movement of parts. It may interest mothers who _ are doubtful about this matter and cannot rid their minds of the prevailing idea that a baby's abdomen is not safe without support to lAow that at the society's Baby Hospital near Dunedin- bindebs are always dispensed with within a week of the time of admission. One might aa well bind a pair of bellows ! From the point of view of breathing the chest and abdomen should be regarded as a wind instrument, and as such should be as free to move as a concertina. DEMONSTRATIONS A1 BABY HOME. Weekly practical lessons and demonstrai tions in connection with the care and feedi ing of babies, open to all, are -given at the 1 Karitane Baby Hospital, Anderson's Bay, by the matron and nur&ss every "Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock.