OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3595, 6 February 1923, Page 57

OUR BABIES.

Bv

HYGEIA.

Published under the autplcee at tha flayal New Zealand Society for the Health HI Wamen and Children. "it la wiser to put up a tenca at tha tap ot a precipice than to maintain an ambulanca at the bottom."

CHILD WELFARE.

It has been suggested that it- would intern°£w the Bal«c y prmSiS R Lw Cmrr,ed P Jet whi Z' n L a ° co 7 l( f by Eady Muriel months ago, tells hs" own^t?^ 0 ' 1 SOm ® WORK I N THE BALTIC PROVINCES r , " IRVBY Kl ‘ ve ’ 8 Methods. for a. y few weeks 3 and 'i b ° Ck London conversation she told “ n . “Resting her work in the rtiu® 3 gleai ,ieal about mission which »h e P ro , v, P ces - The special interest to Now' r 1 i'" 1920 iui * first n't-'o :. - cw Zealanders. In the by the Dominion* 1 !h-D™ 6 contributed lish tile children's 1 °- na ’ 3 * e<J Jfor to esfaband Dvn.sk \7 b‘T° S at Keval, has been used of courte, nent from )Se\v 7p J j oni ? t^lll ? Inoie Permaing the people of Z Z ‘° day **“«»* influence is amend!,T m ’ and that is Dr Truhv K?n ’ g ° V ?, r tle country. It a-nd feeding > of K bafie S s. n,eth ° ds ** Murief°p a b ®et went fur J hep ‘ n ln 1919 Eady io help in the. relief wo h°' S1 ° Vak r a ET.JS forated Na and a tbere aby s < r ou *] cil ha * been Week d ’’ Wh /i d is M° Wn > !" London^a a* 6 ' ‘Baby , v , XE ' V ZEALAND CLINICS, avail aHe money became fair' ’ Zealand was helping, because they had indS r :r& WK. ’SWjss New Zealand clinics. The tr.t-,1 .. , of attendances have been 80-5,246. The Total from"'April "192o y ® F l? t by the mission £27 44Q Fe I tl ’ Z Februar >’> 1922, was £41,449. Fot the clinics at Dvinsk and at Ladv Sltt/p st 'H doing splendid work, n-inii l, Fa get, had special pamphlets printed m Lettish, Russian, and German explaining the preventive, nature of the Dr rk Trnhv* pan *P hle : s al 'e based on i a n U s publications, and inoidentally it may be mentioned that Lady Muriel has been asked to have similar pamP ld fJ 8 Pf’mled in Russian for use in Russia itself The people of the district are quick to absorb the new teaching. They have none ot the prejudices of other methods, and artificial feeding is not known. Not- only are (he mothers and nurses quick to put mto practice what they are taught, but the CK 'f doctors are unprejudiced, sympathetic, and helpful. So the modern methods of mothercraft are having a hearty reception among these people of Eastern Europe. BABY WEEK IN RIGA. Gradually, Lady Muriel and her helpers have been able to transfer their responsi- \! t> S * le authorities in the country. At Riga the clinic is now entirely run by the people themselves. At Dvirsk‘there are stall two specially trained British nurses m charge of the New Zealand clinic, but the financial responsibility now rests almost entirely on the people themselves. In Riga they have just celebrated "Baby Week ” when 12,000 children marched ‘ past the President of the Republic. Whal is known as the Latvian Baby Exhibition was held m the Riga Museum, and the most modern methods of child welfare were demonstrated. The whole town was concentrated on the celebrations, which were organised by the people themselves with help from the members of the mission. WORK IN LITHUANIA. Tt was hoped that the mission might withdraw entirely from the Baltic provinces, leaving the people to carry on the good work; but an appeal for ‘help has come from Kovno, Luthuania. This country a year ago had become fairly prosperous, but the sudden collapse of the mark has brought about an. economic crisis. The extreme need of the people should be only temporary, but at the present the claim of the children is urgent. The Stale does what it can in the way of doles, but. in its present impoverished condition it is quite unable to cope with the acute situation. In these circumstances,- therefore, Lady Muriel Paget’s mission has established a clinic at Kovno, a small milk kitchen, and a welfare centre RUSSIAN CONDITIONS. Appeals are also coming from the Saratov district in Russia, where there are several New Zealand kitchens, run with money contributed in the Dominion. Miss Payne, a nurse who started the work in Czechoslovakia with Lady Muriel Paget, has been in Russia. Her opinion is that, the relief work which is being carried on there is not enough. There is no one there with a scientific knowledge of the feeding and care of infants.