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OUR BADIES.

vßyv By "gyjpia.") Pubßahed under the auspice* V of the feet** for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children. IN DEFENCE OF THE BABY. ■ When the article on "E.V.J.V letter was published three weeks ago 1 bad, of course, no idea that such a penson existed. Now, it seems that there is really an E. V. J., and as some of your readers who kaW nothing about the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children and the Plunket Morses may have been influenced by her letters, it appears desirable te pent «**.«h*t in no particular mentioned by herself did she carry out the instructions in the pamphlet she refers to. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. Before traversing E. V. J.s statements my own personal experience, extending over a period of more than four years, may be comforting to anxious mothers. 1 have had to do with a large > number of babies, ntany of whom were very ill and others sadly emaciated when they came under care, but in no single instance has the baby failed to thrive and grown firm and healthy on "humanised milk." The following extract from a letter which caste after A. B.s telegram, spoake for itself. (By the way the tslsgism came from the husband— not from the wife, as I thought when writing previously on the subject) : — I teat you the wire re the ridiculous letter in the Taranaki Budget beeaosav a great many people read such matter and are easfly influenced, although it was absurd on the face of it in the eyes of anybody who had had experience of humanised milk. The report of the work in the Canterbury Province, which appeared in this eohnnn recently, and the annual reports of the other branches' of the society, all bear the most striking testimony to the success which attends the rational "artificial feeding of babies, and lead us to believe that the day , is not far distant when every infant in ! the dominion that cannot have his ' birthright — namely, his own mother's milk — will be intelligently and there- I fore successfully fed on "humanised ' milk" as soon as the natural supply fails. Mothers, don't wait until your baby has become ill before feeding it properly—do it now I HOW E. V. 7. FAILED TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. Now, we shall again quote what K. V. J. said in August: "I did the first unwise act by trying to breast-feed it (her infant). After battling for six months with a fretful and ailing baby, weak and ill myself, I was advised to give the child 'humanised milk.' . . I followed the instructions in the pamphlet on 'The Feeding and Care of the Baby' to the letter. After four months' trial I noticed my baby waa losing weight," etc., etc. Let us see bow she followed the instructions in the patnP 1. It was pointed out in the "Our Babies" column dialing with the above that E. V. J. did not have her baby weighed, as expressly enjoined in the pamphlet. The passage on "Weighing the Baby"* was quoted at that time. 2. In her letter of September 17 she tells us that she prepared (for her "fretful and ailing" baby) "Humanised Milk No. 22 V — not "humanised milk," as she stated in her previous letter. let us turn, again to the pamphlet and see whether E. V. J. was carrying out the instructions. After describing in detail how a baby which cannot be suckled should be gradually, step by step, educated to digest Kre humanised milk, on page 9. under tding "Second Month and Onwards, it says: — This (hnmawiwd milk) can lie continued throughout the first nine months of life, or towards the end of the fourth month, if the infant is strong and is digesting its food well. Humanised Milk No. 2 may be hlend#4 r w!th the standard humanued

milk in gradually increasing proportions, until at tour months and a naif the child gets No. 2 pure. It should be noted that the change to Milk No. 2 is suggested merely as a saving of troubleTbecaiise it takes less time to make than the first recipe. Both milks are of the same strength, but as the No. 1 is more easily digested, it should be continued longer, and may be used throughout, it No. 2 fails to agree. The method of starting a baby on humanised milk is given on page 10 under the heading "Dilute at Starting." and in that paragraph "Humanieed Milk No. 2" ia not even mentioned. E. V. J. did not give- her "fretful and ailing" baby "humanised milk" at allf neither did she follow the instructions in the pamphlet — in fact, she went absolutely contrary to them. 3. E. V. J. states that Humanised Milk No. 2 is "recommended for babies over four months' old." Can anyone 1 say, after reading the above extructs from the pamphlet, that Humanised Milk No. 2 is recommended by us for "fretful, ailing babies." .4. The Appliances. — There is no mention in the pamphlet of an enamel milk measure costing 3s 6d, nor of scale, "anything over 55." The pamphlet says: "The only special appliances needed are a half-pint glass measure graduated in ounces, and * milk thermometer costing Is or Is 6d. In addition it is a great advantage to havo a 24 ounce conical dipper and a 1 ounce sugar measure." The price of the two latter in Dunedin has been Is for the two; the half pint glass measure can be bought for 2s 6d. When one considers that it costs from 6s to 7s 6d a week to feed a baby as recommended by the proprietors of certain of the most-used patent foods, and that it cost only half as much to feed a baby on humanised milk the mother would be doing the best possible for a child denied the unquestioned advantages of suckling, while on the other hand the baby would be receiving a class of food which has been proved over and over and over again not to properly build up the constitution, and which tends to leave the child a weakling, however well it may appear to grow. 5. E.V.J. gives a partial explanation of the method of preparing Humanised Milk No. 2,. but as, she leaves unmentioned half of the essentials, it may be assumed that she paid no more attention to them than she did to the question of which formula she ought to use for her sick baby. 6. By the way, the nurse who prepared the milk was quite right when she said that heating to 160 degrees F. did not matter. E.V.J., with her usual jumping at conclusions, quotes this as a grave inaccuracy. The milk may be heated fas is explained to all nurses trained by the society) to 162.5 degrees F. without any. known harmful change being brought about. No extreme accuracy is necessary, tike permissible latitude being from 150 degrees to 162.5 degrees F. Between 140 degrees and 150 degrees F. practically all noxious living germs are destroyed, and below 16315 degrees F. the soluble albumen of milk does not begin to coagulate. Further, the change to the characteristic "boiled" taste of superheated milk does not manifest itself under this temperature. THui we strike 155 degrees F. ss the happy mean, with a> permissible range of 5 degrees or 6 degrees on either side. { As every instructor with regard to ! the food of her baby was neglected by E.V.J. it is utterly improbable that she would pay any serious attention to the paragraphs on Sudshine and Fresh Air these' are almost as important for the well-being, of the baby as. suitable food, proper clothing, exercise, fruit juice, etc., etc., etc. A CONTRAST. E.. tT. J. has given us the history oi her baby's adventures, as one might almost call them. Contra&t it with what would have happened had she taken herself and her baby to the Kari. tane Hospital, or called at the Plunket Nurse's Office, or ' even if she had really followed the instructions inthe pamphlet on "The Feeding and TTarj of the Baby," as so many mothers me vcv doing throughout the dominion with perfect success. Had she applied the Plunket Nu sr nould liave told her how to take -art; of her own health and that of her bdl'.v. Siic would bare impressed up > : her *ht importance of pure fresh flowing air day * d night, would pointed out where the baby ought to sleep, etc., etc. She would have advisea the mother about her own food and the times for feeding the baby. She would have investigated* the baby's clothing to see that there was nothing irritating or constricting. ' Then she would have asked the mother to wait until it was time to nurse her baby. Immediately before' nursing the baby would have been weighed, and again immediately after, ana the nurse would i then have known exactly how much j food the baby had had. If the quantity was sufficient the mother would have been advised to attend strictl.v to all hygienic essentials for herself and her baby- There would almost certainly have been marked improvement. This would have continued, and probably she would have been able to nurse her baby for tfce full time, to the great, benefit of herself and her offspring.^ If on weighing the quantity of milk had been markedly deficient she , would have been asked to* com*, again ' or stay for two or three nursings, r.a that the nurse might get 'a better idea of how 'touch shortage there really was. Meantime the baby wonld have been given after each nursing some properly-adjusted humanised milk. If she had really attended to the simple requirements for health her own milk , would probobly have increased in quantity and improved in quality, and she might soon have had enough for her baby; but if not the supplementing would still have been continued. Of course the mother would have been advised to nurse her baby regularly every three or four hours, according to age, as long as she could supply good ! milk. If the milk failed altogether the ; baby could easily have been weaned, as it would have been already .habituated . to the new food and method or feeding. I Next week we shall jyve a striking illustrative case and finish with E. V. J.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TH19091016.2.81

Bibliographic details

Taranaki Herald, Volume 16, Issue 14, 16 October 1909, Page 6

Word Count
1,737

OUR BADIES. Taranaki Herald, Volume 16, Issue 14, 16 October 1909, Page 6

OUR BADIES. Taranaki Herald, Volume 16, Issue 14, 16 October 1909, Page 6

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