So far as is known, there is no foundation for the belief that any special article of diet has any particular effect upon the development of the child.
Care of the Breasts.—The care of the breasts during pregnancy must be commenced early. All pressure of the clothing should be removed, in order to give them full opportunity to develop. They should be kept warm, however, and well supported, if the size renders them uncomfortable.
Mothers Should Nurse Their Children.—Statistics show that the summer diarrhœas and dysenteries, which carry off such immense numbers of children each year, are almost unknown among babies that nurse. It is the artificially fed child which suffers from wasting diseases and disturbances of the digestion which are so fatal to life. Therefore, every prospective mother should do everything in her power to prepare for the proper nursing of her child.
Care of the Nipples.—If the nipples are flat, they can be pulled out gently each day with the fingers, and thus the difficulty entirely remedied. At the beginning of the last month of pregnancy, the nipples should be hardened in order that nursing may be painless, and that all fissures, or cracks, may be avoided.
Every morning and night apply the following solution to the nipples with a piece of absorbent cotton:—
| Glycerite of Tannin, | 1 fluid ounce. |
| Water, | 1 fluid ounce. |
Allow this to remain on the nipple. This cannot be used after confinement, for the bitter taste would be objectionable to the child.
Can Sex Be Foretold?—Mothers often wish to know if it is possible to determine the sex of the child before it is born. Although a great deal has been written on this subject, and a number of so-called rules have been made, yet it is absolutely impossible to tell whether the child will be a boy or a girl; and it is also equally impossible to do anything that could in any way exert an influence in producing a child of the desired sex.
To Tell Time of Confinement.—For two hundred and eighty days, or forty weeks, the prospective mother has been conducting herself in the best way she thought possible, that all good might be exerted upon the new life. The question now comes, When may the day of confinement be expected? I give here a table for calculating this day, which I am sure will be found very convenient.