—Doctor Nathan Oppenheim.
Prenatal Hygiene. If any baby could supervise the preparation for his own coming, he would not wait until the last few months before his advent, that is, any baby who had even moderate ambition for his comfort, his happiness, and his efficiency.
Approved Baby Clothing and Bassinet.
Diaper fastening at sides. Bassinet allowing ventilation, with green detachable hood to protect eyes from strong light, and with rod to grasp.
He would begin by selecting his grandparents, who would be high-minded, religious, abstainers, moderate in all their habits, industrious, neither wealthy nor poverty-stricken, and who would bring up his father and his mother as members of a family of children in the same spirit and with foresight for his welfare. He would direct, during their childhood and adolescence, the physical régime of his father and mother, which would be simple, natural, regular, chiefly in the open air, with habitual deep breathing and, especially for his mother, exercises and clothing that would develop the most efficient digestion, breathing capacity, back and trunk muscles, steady nerves, reserve vitality. He would guide their education, which would include a minimum of traditional junk, parrotlike mimicry and discipline, and a maximum of real experience, valuable information, and æsthetic appreciation acquired through personal exploring, experimenting, judging, creating, with a discipline that developed self-direction, self-control, and self-reliance.
He would anticipate that his mother and father, with such a heredity and education, would be high-minded above dissipation and triflings, sensible beyond unhygienic habits in food and in dress, well-poised and superior to pettiness and discords, with a radiant love that maintained an atmosphere of joyousness, graciousness, courage. Having chosen each other because they loved each other, his father and mother would live and work and plan because they loved him. Before they invited him to come, they would have a comfortable home settled, so his mother could give her chief attention to him and be free to live much out-of-doors; they would consult their physician and bring themselves to their best vitality, so he might have the best physical constitution; and they would make any necessary sacrifice of their own desires that he might be undisturbed and thus grow steadily and sturdily until his birthday.
Physical motherhood is a natural, normal biological process. Under a natural, rational régime it should be a happy experience with a minimum of discomfort. The essentials, in brief, of such a régime are:
1. Thorough elimination of the increased amount of waste products, through the skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines.
2. Strong, flexible trunk muscles.
3. Avoidance of fatigue, undue excitement, unhappiness, muscular strain; continence.