OUR BABIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19433, 20 October 1925, Page 11

OUR BABIES

By Hygela. Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” Overfeeding in the First Month. Many of the babies admitted to our Karitane Hospitals are suffering from malnutrition caused by overfeeding in tho early weeks of life. The poor infant suffers from indigestion and colic, and gets little peaceful sleep. Baby’s crying and other evidences of suffering worry the mother so much that sfic cannot rest and sleep. Her milk is frequently pronounced at fault, and, of course, tho lack of rest, combined with worry and anxiety, soon causes her supply to dwindle, until fiom having an ample supply there is not sufficient to maintain the proper growth and development of the child. In such a case, if a capable, competent Plunket Nurse, in whom the mother has confidence, takes charge, matters soon begin to mend; but it may take a very long time to get rid of the indigestion and colic which have been established. It is better still if the mother and babe go to the “Mothers’ Cottage” at one of tho Society’s Karitane Hospitals. An improvement soon takes place under the skilled treatment of the matron and nurses. Baby is put to the breasts at regular intervals, and a record is kept of the quantity of milk secured by the infant from the mother at each feeding time when the baby is “weighed before and after.” This is carefully complemented, making sure that only a sufficiency of properly adjusted food is allowed, and the baby gradually becomes more contented and happy, tends to have less pain, sleeps bettor, and begins to put on weight again. Alcantime, the mother, freed from all responsibility and seeing her baby improving, begins to rest better, her milk supply increases under the cari* of the nurses, and, of course, it, being the very best food for her baby, tends to hasten recovery. Our readers may say, “All’s well that ends well,” and no great harm has been done. This is where wo differ! No infant which has suffered such pain and misery can be undamaged by it, and long weeks may follow’ in which the digestive organs have to be gradually restored before things really mend. Prevent Overfeeding. What I want to try and impress this week is the fact that mothers and nurses ought to prevent this overfeeding. They both know the signs and symptoms, and the remedy is so simple that no one can fail to apply it. Give less food, and get into touch with a Plunket Nurse or a Karitane Hospital as soon as possible. You must weigh before and after each nursing before you can be sure; but a careful, observant mother or nurse can note a good deal before she may be able to get scales. If baby is restless and seems dissatisfied, give a little warm boiled water either before his feeding or between feedings, and feed regularly. In a Nursing Home or Under Care of Doctor and Nurse. The mother and child are now in other hands, and the mother must do what tho authorities say. However, when she gets home, she can excercise her knowledge and judgment, and be as she ought to be, “the competent executive in her own home.” » The following letter, which reached us from South Africa about 10 days ago, gives a fine example of what a really capable, interested woman can do for herself and her child.

I give the letter practically in full, as it may be of great help to many young mother, especially in the backblocks, where there arc as yet no Pluuket nurses. We must never forget that our is a society for mutual helpfulness and the acquiring and handing on of reliable information from one mother to another. It is thrilling to think that a mother in South Africa, where little has so far been done in a systematic way to spread uniform authoritative advice regarding the needs and care of babies throughout the community, may help one of her sisters in far-away New Zealand. The Letter. “It is with a heart full of gratitude for your most helpful book ‘Feeding i and Care of Baby’ that I am taking the liberty of writing my appreciation and thanks. “My baby boy is just three weeks old. He was born in a Nursing Home, and three-hourly feeding was commenced—not always regularly, for several times when he fretted I was told to give him ten minutes more, as he must be hungry! Ho sucks vigorously, and I was sure he was getting too much, especially as suckling for 20 minutes was insisted upon. “As soon as I returned home I put him on to four-hourly feeding, only allowing him 15 minutes at the breast. In spite of this, his motions were loose, greenish, and full of undigested curd, “I refened to ‘Feeding and Care of weighed him before and after feeding, and found he was getting far too much. Then I reduced the time at the breast to 12 minutes. Still there was no improvement. Next I purchased a feeding bottle, and gave him a tablespoonful of warm boiled water before every feed. Thereupon the loose motion ceased, and he went 24 hours without one. I tried without success to get the bowels to move.

“I rcfferred to ‘Feeding and Care of Baby’ again, and found 1 was overlooking an important point—viz., massaging the abdomen. So this morning, after his 10 o’clock feed, I gently massaged, and within three minutes he had a perfectly normal motion. I was overjoyed, and oh! so grateful, for how should 1 have known bow to rectify

what was wrong without the aid of that wonderful little book. “I feel I cannot thank you enough, and wish you every continued success in your grand work. —Yours most gratefully, etc.”