Better babies and their care

by Anna Steese Richardson

Neither should she go to bed hungry. A glass of milk, warm if it can be taken that way, cocoa, broth or gruel is a sleep coaxer, but no tea, coffee, or any other stimulant should be drunk just before bedtime.

In addition to regular sleep at night, the prospective mother should have at least one nap during the day, at a time which will least interfere with her household duties. A mother who has borne six children, who has had little domestic help, and who yet retains her youthful look and energy, has often told me that she thinks her present condition due to the fact that while carrying and nursing her babies she never permitted herself to reach that stage of exhaustion where her nerves twitched, her voice shrilled, and she became irritable. She made it a practice to drop her work when these symptoms appeared, and to seek the sanctuary of a quiet room apart from her family, if only for ten or fifteen minutes. And, most important, from the very start she trained her household to respect her right thus to draw apart.

Exercise for the pregnant woman should mean more than muscular activity. It should represent change of scene and thought, relaxation and recreation. The best form of exercise is walking for walking’s sake. This does not mean shopping or walking a few blocks to the home of a friend and then sitting down for a half hour or more of gossip. It means going out into God’s fresh air with one’s eyes open to the beauties of nature or the human drama through which the walk leads. On the other hand, the woman who has led a sedentary life should not walk too violently at first. Let her start with a half hour’s walk each day and increase it gradually until she spends at least two hours outdoors daily.

The woman who lives in a small city, a suburb, a country town, or on a farm, is singularly fortunate, as she will find light gardening the very best form of exercise.

In the side yard of a charming home where I often visit there is a flower-bed for each child born into the family circle. One year the mother laid out, planted and coaxed to bloom a border of lilies-of-the-valley; at another time she started her violet bed; a third child is represented by a wonderful circle of tulips and the fourth by an arbor of rambler roses. I often wonder whether the fine, flower-like natures of the girls in this family cannot be traced to the mother’s tranquil work in the garden.

Raising chickens, ducks, or pigeons will also take the expectant mother outdoors and provide pleasant recreation.

The woman who, through her girlhood, has been keen for athletic sports, such as tennis, golf, skating, and motoring, must curb these forms of recreation. Fully ninety per cent. of the physicians with whom I have discussed the question condemn constant motoring for the expectant mother. To employ the automobile as a transportation convenience is one thing; to take long, tiring rides or tours is positively dangerous for the pregnant woman, as it invites miscarriage.

Household duties exercise the muscles and are invaluable if performed in properly ventilated rooms. Unfortunately, however, many prospective mothers sacrifice their own health and that of their unborn children on the altar of domestic neatness. During pregnancy a woman should simplify her household management, even if this step involves packing away bric-à-brac and rolling up rugs.

This is no time for a woman to be self-sacrificing, and yet it often amounts to an obsession with her. I have seen such mothers performing heavy household duties, which other members of their family would gladly have assumed. I have seen them strain muscles and eyesight to embroider or trim raiment for the older children, and I have seen them carefully select the choicest bits of food at table for husband or growing child, when the mother should have, for her own health and that of her unborn child, the very best which the family purse can afford. This spirit of martyrdom may give a certain amount of mental satisfaction to the woman who practises it, but it is harmful to the unborn child and is really a symptom of mental disturbance not to be encouraged.

The actual physical comfort of the mother means much to the child. If there is any time when a woman has the right to allow herself time to care for her body, money to purchase easy clothes and small personal luxuries, it is when she is carrying a child. Bathing is a luxury which many overworked home-makers deny themselves. The expectant mother should make time to take a daily bath. If there is a stationary tub in the house, this bath may be of the sort which is most comforting to her: a tepid bath before retiring or a cool bath on rising. When there are no bath and plumbing in the house, the mother should have a portable tub in her room, in which she can sponge off quickly with tepid water, followed by brisk rubbing with a Turkish towel. A warm bath with soap should be taken twice a week, but very hot or very cold baths must be avoided. Bathing is important because it keeps the pores of the skin open. It is estimated that at least a pint of waste matter is thrown off each twenty-four hours through open pores. There is danger for mother and child if this waste matter is permitted to clog the former’s system.