The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 21, 1918, Page 9

L D> A ~ T /% 0 ///.7,, / wyl III// é//o / 70/' "I///I; Health Mothers and Healthy Babies Thousands of Needless Deaths Every Year in the United States, Says . Children’s Bureau Expert—Growing Interest in Prevention BY MRS. MAX 'WEST . =F THE _ 100,000 babxes who die every §ear in this country before they are a year old, nearly half die during their first month of life. In many tiny bodies the flame of hfe burns‘ so feebly at birth that it-As soon snuffed out, because moth- ers were ill or overworked or underfed during the momen- tous months before their ba- bies were born. "That is why the children’s bureau. of the United States department of labor and the woman’s com- mittee of the Council of Na- tional Defense urge that as part of the Children’s Year campaign to save 100,000 ba- bies, proper instruction and - care be made available for all mothers during the critical months before their babies come. % That mothers themselves realize that the care of the—. baby must start before the . baby is born, is shown by their eagerness to avail themselves of information concerning the hygiene of maternity. The de- mand for the pamphlet on’- Prenatal Care, published by the children's bureau, is stead- ily increasing. In California, excerpts from that pamphlet ' as well as from the children’s’ ° bureau pamphlet on Infant Care have been translated into Japanese for the benefit of the Japanese mothers of the Pa- cific coast. The prenatal cen- ters that have been-~establish- ed during Children’s Year in . many towns throughout the country, are eagerly sought by mothers who desire advice on how to make childbearing safe for themselves and for their children. ~ At-least 15,000 mothers aré lost to' the .United States each year from causes—most of them prevent- able—that ‘are connected with child- bearing. They die because they have not known how to protect themselves durmg pregnancy, or because the sur- geon is not within reach at the time of confinement, or because the doctor or midwife who attends them is care- - ' THE WHITE HOUSE Washington My Dear Mr. Secretary: .--.-less or ignerant. Many other mothers - who survive_ in spite of improper care “are left in a weakened condition, in- capable of: properly looking after the needs of their families. This loss, coupled with the loss of _thousands of babies, is, one that no country.can afford to ignore. In Eng-. ~ - N What may be accomplished by mak- ing available for mothers advice and proper care is shown by the record of one prenatal center in the city of Philadelphia. Not one death in child- birth has occurred in three years among the mothers attending the center, and not a-case of eclampsia ‘SUEFRAQE, DEMONSTRATION IN WASHINGTON This p‘icfure shows the representafixesf,of the National Woman’s party, the radical wing of the woman suffrage movement, conducting a meeting at the Lafayette statue opposite the White House. A few days later the president made a strong plea for suffrage in the senate, but that body failed to give-the amendment the necessary two-thirds vote. “ <banner carried by the women.yead, “Mr. President, what will you DO for woman suflrage?” The president has acted, and the women will now have to direct ; thenr question to certain conservative senators. e land after four years.of war, pre- natal care for mothers ‘“has greatly - increased. Only recently the king has put his signature to a bill that pro- :vides, government aid for ‘medical- and nursing care for mothers and babies. - A similar bill, destined to help the mothers of the United States—6s- pecially those in ‘rural-districts—has - heen presénted in our own’ congress. 7 (convulsions of pregnancy). Out of 99 full-time births, 94 were living at the end of the first month. All but ‘two were breast-fed. In"'New York, the milk: committee has been in touch with more than 3,000 mothers. Only five of these mothers lost. their lives from causes’ connected with childbirth and only 86 babies died-in the first month of life. Pres1dent Urges Support for Schools and civic life, but for a very high average of mtelhgence and préparation’on the part of all the people. ‘' T would therefore urge: - that the people continue to give generous support to their schools 31 July, 1918;- ol I\am pleased to.know that despxte the unusual burdens im- posed upon ‘our people by the war they have maintained their as possible to the new conditions to the end that no boy or girl schools and other agencies of education so nearly at their normal ‘efficiency. That this should be continued throughout the war . that the nation may be strengthened as it can only be through ' and that, in so far as the draft law: will pemfit there should be the right education of all its people. no fallmg off in attendance in elementary: ~-both our strength in war and our national welfare andvefi‘meney ‘when: the war is over. - So. long as:the war contmues ther be: constant need of very large numbers of.men . - the highest and most thorough training for war service 2 dn dines. “After the war there will be urgent need-mot tramed leadershlp in all lmes of industrxal oM ools, high schools * “have ‘the peratron in’ ation »Q°’° C 1all of all grades and that the schools adjust themselves as wisely . .iv,' The principa) These figures show a reduction of 69 per cent in the death rate for mothers and of 28 per cent in the death rate for babies among the supervised cases as compared with the figures for New York in general. One of the largest insurance companies of the country has, in the past few years, been try- ing the experiment of sending .. among its policyholders. In 1916 these nurses visited more than 7,000 cases, and the deaths in childbirth among the company’s policyholders de- sand in 1911 to 62.6 in 1916— a decrease of 10.7 per cent. The provision of such care for all mothers would prevent . a great waste to.our country —a waste that makes itself babies that actually die, but in invalid women and puny children destined for a life- time of -ficiency. NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPLIES FOR CUPBOARD Last fall one woman who made a survey of a five-mile circuit .found she could get cornmeal, buckwheat and whole wheat flour from a neighbor- ing mill. She canvassed -the farmers and contracted for a winter supply of chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas and rabbits, a small quantity of bacon and sausage and even fresh fish and eels. When neighboring farmers killed a beef she: bought a quarter, treated the family to fresh beef The sugar supply of her fam- ily of six she cut down to 10 pounds a month and pieced out ,this allowance with neighbor- hood sorghum and honey. During the long hard winter her - only call on the overburdened railroad was for a little sugar, coffee, vege- table fats and seasohings. This was’ practical conservation. She ‘relieved .the railroads of useless transportation, - saved the labor of many hands, de- veloped the resources of her own com- munity and fed her family better. shall have less oppoertunity for education because of the war and - your plans for making through the bureau of education a com: . or colleges is a matter of the: very. ‘greatest importance, affectmg ‘Prehensive campaign fo;- the support of the schools a,nd for. 1-.11 ,-mamtenance of attendance upon them, and trust that you may : this work of the American | Cou& of ‘and smcerely yours, i I approve most heartily - WQODROW WILSON j e PRy e RIS BT a nurse to expectant mothers:. creased from 70.1 per thoun- - felt not only in mothers and -: ill-health and inef- : and canned and corned the rest.. R G S e ML £ TS Y A P O T T TP TS T R S S e o £ ST