One yard of bobbin, or very narrow tape, or braided silk, for tying the cord.
Twenty-five yards of sterile gauze.
Four rolls of cotton-batting.
Three pounds of absorbent cotton.
The ergot and chloroform need not be provided by the city mother, with the drugstore close at hand, but for the suburban or country mother their presence in the house, if the doctor is summoned hastily and there is no drugstore near by, may save confusion and perhaps futile errand running. Neither drug is to be used without the permission of the doctor, for, if chloroform is administered too soon, it may hinder the progress of labor. If given in too large a quantity it increases the possibilities of hemorrhage.
The gauze, cotton-batting and absorbent cotton are used for dressings for the bed. These may be made by the mother or the nurse. They must then be sterilized and put in an air-tight box or drawer until needed. With great care they may be sterilized by dry heat in the oven, but as there is danger from scorching, steam is more satisfactory. The most convenient way is to utilize a washboiler, one-fourth full of water. The dressings are laid, first in loose cheese-cloth bags, then in a hammock-shaped strip of muslin attached by either end to the handles of the boiler. The hammock should be swung high enough in the boiler so that it does not actually touch the water. The lid is fastened on tight and the steaming goes on for an hour. The dressings are then dried in the sun or in the oven. In the latter case great care must be taken or they will be scorched.
In preparing an outfit for the baby, it should be borne in mind that this is an age of simplicity in dressing children; also that a baby outgrows its first clothes very quickly. The essentials for the new-born baby are:
Four abdominal bands of soft flannel, unhemmed, six to eight inches wide, twenty inches long.
Four shirts of wool and silk mixed, or wool and cotton, in size 2.
Four flannel skirts, hung from the shoulder, not made with bands to pin around the abdomen.