OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3337, 27 February 1918, Page 52

OUR BABIES.

By Htgeia. Published under {lie auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society tor the Health ol Woman and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a- precipice than to. maintain an ambulance at the bottom." ' • PRENATAL CARE. Last week we made some extracts from an article by Airs Anna S. Richardson on " When Does Baby's Life Begin?" We now give the remainder of her remarks on the subject. MRS RICHARDSON'S ARTICLE. (Concluded.) MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS. Hundreds of w%men write to me about accidents, shocks, sights, and so forth which j they rear may mark the unborn .child. Science has long since proven that the I formation of the child— and by that Ii mean what a mother might call its anatomical structure —is settled practically in the hour of conception. A child is not marked or malformed later by any shock suffered by the mother. If such a sad thing happens, it is a coincidence, not the result of tho shock to the mother. On the other -hand, many more wometf write that they are hysterical and nervous, I irritable and tearful, and they lay these conditions to prospective motherhood, not , to their lack of self-control, which will work serious damage to the unborn child. The nervous, hysterical woman does not digest her food properly, and indigestion in the mother means lack of nourishment for the child. Nervousness and hysteria are more dangerous to the unborn child than shock or fright. WE MUST INTEREST PROSPECTIVE MOTHERS. This article has not been written to explain in detail the various steps in prenatal care. It aims only to interest prospective mothers in the marvellous power of prevention which lies behind that phrase, pre-natal care. The right sort of care for tho mother means health for the baby/ and that is why the second great day in a baby's existence is the one on which the woman learns that she is to bear a child, and her responsibilities begin. American physicians are lighting to safeguard babies by various methods. Reforms, however, can come only with cooperation between progressive physicians and earnest, intelligent women. This will be given by women directly they understand the possibilities, the beauty, the optimism of motherhood through better prenatal care. And before understanding must come information, intelligently, enthusiastically given, a campaign be*ing 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, the lay press, and so forth. All such work, he explained, should be controlled by graduate physicians. WOMEN'S RIGHTS. The average physician intelligent enough : to conduct any sort of a public health I education campaign is top busy with pri- j vate practice and teaching work in the nearest medical school. Health officials ' and welfare workers are merely passing on to the public the truths of Sane, safe living which doctors have been urging on their private 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 will 'they appreciate higher standards of medical service. Superstition flies out of tho 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 tho age of dark magic in motherhood and in all medical practice has passed. If you want a healthy baby, study pre- j natal care, and live what you learn. Bear in mind that it is less expensive to guard your health and your baby's before your Doby comes into the world than to employ high-priced specialists to correct defects or reduce ailments that might never have come if preventive measures had been taken.

THE IMKW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BOOK FOR MOTHERS.

"The Expectant Mother and Baby's First Month, prepared by the Society aiid issued by the Public Health Department free of charge, can be obtained on application (including l£d for postage) from the Matron, Karitane-Harris Hospital, the 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 birth of her baby,. and we feel sure that if this is done very great benefit will accruo to mother and child, and much trouble and sickness will be prevented. 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 on application. The Plunket Nurses will be glad to see expectant mothers either at the Society's room or in their own homes. The nurses' services are free.