OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 64

OUR BABIES.

Br

Hygeia.

Published under the auspices «t the floyal New Zealand Society for the Health •f Women and Children. “It Is wiser to put up a fence at tho top ot a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

PLUNKET NURSES, ETC., DUNEDIN BRANCH. nurses’ services free. Nurses M’Lcan (telephone 9268), Mathie•on (telephone 3020), Scott, and Elba. Society’s Rooms: Jamieson’s Buildings. 76 Lower Stuart street (telephone 116), and 315 King Edward street, South Dunedin (teleOffice hours, daily from 2 to 4 p.m. (except Saturday and Sunday); also Lindon Oddtellows’ Hall, Koslyn, Monday and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. Ourstations: Baptist Church, Gordon road, Mosgiel, Tuesday afternoons from 2 to 4 P-m. ; Municipal Buildings, Pert Chalmers, Wednesday aft-moons trorn L to 4 p.m. Secretary, Miss G. Hoddinott, Jamieson’s Buildings, Stuart street (telephone 116). Karitane-Harris Baby Hospital, Anderson’s Bay (telephone 1985). Matron, Miss B uisson. Demonstrations every Wednesday afternoon from 2.30 to 3.30. Training Institution for Plunket Nurses and Karitane Baby N urses % Visiting hours, 2to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. DIET FOR NURSING MOTHERS. (Continued.) Last weeek we gave a sample of a reason* aole diet for the average nursing mother, anti emphasised Ihe nia .1 ) points to be observed. _ We now give an example of a harmful regimen and continue the subject of diet. WHAT NOT TO DO. One morning I looked in to see a mother whose baby was just a week old. A kind and very lovable grandmother was in charge, and she was immensely proud of the baby. The mother, who was still confined to bed, was suffering acutely from headache, arid after a little while 1 asked what she had had to eat. Nothing at all out of the ordinary, I was assured. Then I asked them to tell me as nearly as possible the hours and the kind and quantity cf food, lhe following is exactly what they told me: IOOI) TAKEN BY NURSING MOTHER WHEN BABY WAS ONE WEEK OLD. 7 a.m. —Tea. Bread and Butter. 8 a.m.—Grilled Chop. Small cup of Tea. Bread and Butter. 10.30 a.m.—Cup of Cocoa. Bread and Butter, and Biscuits. 1 p.m.—Nice Mutton Broth.- Potato and Cabbage. 4- p.m.—Small cun of Tea. Bread and Butter and Jelly. 6 p.m.—Little bit of Fish. Bread and Butter. Tea. 9 p.m.—Basin of Gruel. POISONED CELLS. Wh on I remonstrated and tried to reason with the grandmother, she told me that a mother must have plenty of nourishment when she is nursing her baby. It was useless explaining that proper intervals must elapse between meals, to allow of complete uninterrupted digestion, and that severe headache was the natural outcome cf such a succession of meals. I was met with the oid saw that the best way to feed an invalid is “Little and Often.” It was almost useless for me to attempt to explain to the granny what every educated young woman of today should know, that, such headache was due to the poisoning of the brain cells with tlie products of imperfect digestion and malassimilation, etc. These poisons are carried in the blood stream, not only to the brain, but also to the breasts, and may thus gain access to the milk, and to some, extent upset the baby. This along with the common fault of over-feeding the baby may bring on indigestion, colic, and fretfulness, leading possibly to diarrhoea, vomiting and convulsions. If there were no dietetic errors in respect to either mother or child, infantile convulsions would be practically unknown. Convulsions in general are due to poisoning of the nervous system. CABBAGE. Cabbage is not a vegetable which one would recommend, even after the mother is up and about, much less should it ee given when the mother is still in bed. since it is as liable to disagree with the baby as it is with the mother. I met the mother of a very flourishing little baby a few weeks ago. and she re- . maiKed that her infant had been fretful and most unhappy for a whole day after she (the notlici) had eaten some delirious young cabbage. The baby was so miserable that she began to think her milk must he disagreeing. Ot course, the milk was disagreeing for the time; the milk was poisoned while tlie .harmful waste products of 1 1 io cabbage were circulating in the mother’s blood and passing into tho secretions. Compare the well-known effect of turnips on cow’s milk. The above is a common experience with cabbage, and it should therefore be avoided by the nursing mother if other suitable green vegetables, such as spinnacli. silver beet, etc., can be got:, and in every case where cabbage shows a tendency to disagree with the mother. Further, the nursing mother should avoid any articles of food which she knows from previous experience have any tendency to disagree with herself personally. Tdiosnycrasy in such matter cannot be ignored. Generally speaking, what agrees with one healthy person lends to agi.ee with another; but this is by no means always the ease. Sometimes “one man’s food is another man’s poison.”