OUR BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2568, 31 July 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

• Published under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of the’ Health of Women,and Children. j GIRLS, TAKE THEM OFF. j It will bp remembered that our correspondent, whose admirable thesis on Corsets;we published last week, said oi her injunction, Girls Take Them Off: •‘lt is a pity the phrase cannot ho sent echoing through the length and breadth of our country.” It should bo some satisfaction to the writer in a .country jvith loss than a million inhabitants a hundred thousand copies of her whole article liavo been scattered broadcast in a dozen newspapers from end to end of the Dominion in tho course of the past week . More than this,, we commence in this issue the publication of some hundreds of thousands of additional columns which will afford ample confirmation of tho conclusions <which were arrived at by our correspondent from her own personal experience. She spoke, by tho way, mainly from tho point of view of a single woman —increased efficiency and feeling’of fitness: tho joy of being alivo and healthy; “the delightful feeling of it all—gilds you don’t know you’re alive with those things on. But however important for the woman herself, some of our readers may wonder why so much attention is being devoted to Corsets in. “Our Babies” column. The answer is surely obvious—anything which gravely interferes with the health and fitness of girls and women strikes “a blow below the belt at the baby. There is probably no single factor which prejudices tho unborn more than the restrictions of bodily movement and the displacement and distortion, of organs brought about by tho improper clothing of those who are „to be mothers. Not only does . this cause the unborn to be gravely injured and ofttimes ushered into the workl prematurely, hut it is a most important factor in reducing women to a condition of debility in which they are unable to properly nurse their offspring. By far the most important recent work on the Health and Sickness of Children is a German Encyclopaedia in four large volumes which was published last year, giving; the conclusions arrived at by the researches of the last 10 years—a decade in which more has been added, to the world’s knowledge in this connection than .during any previous century. Writing on the precautions which should he taken with a view to preventing weakness and' disease in offspring, Dr Bendix, of Berlin, says under the heading

CLOTHING

Tlie corset is the greatest and most serious menace to the health of the female sex. Owing to the dictates of fashion, which declare a waist beautiful only when encirc.ed by a corset as by an armour, there develop after a time those injuries and anomalies of which the constricted chest (Sclinurthorax) is characteristic. Here, above all, are to be considered the effects of pressure upon the abdominal organs, particularly upon the liver, and the displacement of the abdominal organs (gastroptosis, eutoroptosis), with all their remote sequelae, such as dilation of the digestive organs, anaemia in all grades, poor development, and nervous symptoms o* all kinds. Tho earlier in life tight lacing is practised, and the more the rtnVpe of the thorax is distorted from the normal, the more certain is the prolapse of the stomach, the less the opportunity for the blood-making system to escape disturbance, and the more persistent and difficult to cure are the consequent symptoms of disease. Children who do not wear corsets, hut who wear skirt bands which are tco tight, may develop mamfestations similar to those which occur from wearing tight corsets. It is a part of the general precautions necessary for health to preserve the natural form of the chest in the young and to guard them from the evils induced by the wearing of corsets. But in order to get along without a corset, which lends support to the entire upper part of tho female figure, including breasts and back, it is necessary that the girl’s body should be strengthened by good nourishment, plenty of fresh air, and particularly by exercise, such, as gymnastics, tennis, rowing, walking, etc., so that the muscles may be strong enough to furnish tho requisite support without artificial aid. This end is fully attained, in my experience, when the development of the muscles of the chest and back is begun early. Instead of' corsets, the girls ought to wear nnderwaists which have buttons, to which the skirt and drawers can be fastened, thus dividing tho weight of the clothes between the hips and shoulders. This manner of dress does not permit the wearing of heavy underclothing. If when wearing this kind of clothing it is found that There is pressure upon the two floating ribs (which women is particularly harmful), the hand of tlie skirt must he worn more loosely*, and the garment itself should be made to rest snugly upon, and take its support from, the upper part of the haunch bones. ENGLISH AUTHORITY.

Dr Harry Campbell, one of the greatest medical authorities in London at the present moment, writing recently on tho Causation and Prevention ol Disease, said: — . , ... The most injurious article of modern dress is undoubtedly tlie corset, for without question it is responsible for a great deal of disease. Ordinary stays for adults, even wlien made of • the most pliable material, laced with elastic cord and worn loose, interfere with proper breathing, for they do not admit of complete inspirations. /.If tlu\v did, the hand coiiltv ' be placed'under tlie corset at the end ' of the " deepest inspirations . without being' compressed. As a matter of faqt, the thorax of all corset-wearers is distorted, the lower part being compressed and the upper. part unduly expanded and mobile, so that no woman who has worn stays can be employed as an undraped ' model,