The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1909. CARING FOR THE BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2497, 10 May 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1909. CARING FOR THE BABIES.

The report of the Wellington Society for the promotion of the health of women and children serves as a reminder to the community of the splendid work these societies are doing for the Domin. ion. The chief point made in the report referred to is the fact that as a result of investigating the cases of 210 babies it"was found that children fed on costly patent foods grew to the thinness of tho proverbial rake, and when the patent foods wore discontinued and the Plunket nurses’ directions followed in ' regai'd to *dieting on humanised milk, the condition of the babies took a rapid turn for the better, some of them gaining five pounds in six weeks. Others developed at the rate of half-a-pound a week. Normal sleep and a better tone generally followed the simple commonsense treatment laid down; and the babies, instead, of being lost, now bid fair to become robust members of society. In one case contracted limbs became straight as a result of rational feeding. This is precisely the result which would have been expected by those who have studied the information contained in the column headed "Our Babies” which appears each week in our Saturday’s supplement. Humanised milk is a preparation which approaches- as closely as possible to the nourishment which a child ivould secure if nursed by its mother. The milk is manufactured on a fairly large scale in some of tho larger centres and can bo purchased at a very low rate by those desiring it, whilst persons living away from such centres can on application to any of the Society’s branches, obtain the recipe for its manufacture.. It is, of course, the undoubted right of every child born. into the world that it should He nourished from its mother’s breast. This is the only correct method for the proper rearing of children, for no artificial device can provide a perfect substitute. Unfortunately, very many mothers fail to realise the serious nature of their responsibilities in this connection whilst others cannot, if they would, act the true part of a mother to her offspring. Artificial foods are then resorted to, and in a large number of cases harmful results accrue. Not only that, but in regard to the general care of infants there is a surprising amount of ignorance still existent not only amongst the masses, but also with the more educated portions of the community, and iufants are.very frequently subjected to entirely wrong treatment as the result of following out ancient and foolish custofs. Thus it happens that just at the most crucial stages of their existence infants frequently suffer from improper nourishment and from ignorance on the part of those responsible for their upbringing,'the net result being a very heavy infant mortality and a weakened constitution for those who survive. It is at this point that the Society for the promotion of the headh of women and children comes in and does magnificent work. Although not long established it already has branches at Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, and Timaru, and we hope it will not be long before one is formed in Gisborne. At each of these branches, a Plunket nurse is stationed, and from her advice and assistance can be obtained gratis by those in need of it. Tho movement is .such an excellent one that we have little doubt but that it i\ill, before long, be represented by a branch in every town in the Dominion, and the great educative work that is being done is certain to have a marked effect for good upon the risinj^generation.