The Mother and Her Child

by William S. Sadler; Lena K. Sadler

All fats must be taken from the food, sugars should be avoided, and the amount of starchy foods, such as flour, potatoes and bread, should be greatly reduced. Buttermilk, skimmed milk, eggs, green vegetables, and fruit juices should be given. In the older child, if grains are used, they should be well toasted or baked.

JAUNDICE

It is altogether common and physiological for the newborn baby to pass through a few days of yellow skin which usually clears up in the second or third week, but it should not recur. Occasionally this yellow tint deepens, the whites of the eyes are yellow, the urine passed leaves a yellow stain on the diaper, while passages from the bowels are white or clay colored. If the child shows symptoms of ill health other than the yellow tint, it should receive medical attention. Older children troubled with jaundice should receive the following treatment: The photophore as described elsewhere should be applied to the liver and abdomen (the liver is on the right side), and this should be followed by the application of what is known as a heating compress, consisting of three layers—a cloth wrung from cold water, a mackintosh, and then two thicknesses of blanket flannel—which are all applied when the skin has been made red by the application of heat. (If the photophore is unavailable, a hot-water bottle may be applied.) The flannel is pinned snugly on the outside as the wet cloth goes next to the skin with the mackintosh between. This should remain on the abdomen for three or four hours, after which the hot application is again made to the liver and abdomen. The administration of broken doses of calomel is sometimes indicated in obstinate cases in connection with these applications of heat to the liver. Hot milk or mineral water may be taken with dry toast. In a day or two the color should clear up, the stools should be normal again, and the treatment may be discontinued.

WORMS

Irritation about the rectum which cannot be otherwise explained is usually suggestive of pinworms. These seatworms or pinworms are very much like little pieces of cotton thread—one-fourth of an inch in length. They grow and thrive in the lower part of the large bowel. Simple and effective treatment is as follows:

It is well to bathe the parts about the rectum after each bowel movement and often two or three times a day with a weak antiseptic solution. Itching may be controlled by the application of a disinfectant ointment, or the local applications of ice may serve the same purpose. After a thorough cleansing of the colon by an injection of lukewarm water containing a teaspoon of borax to the pint in order to remove the mucus, Doctor Holt suggests that after the discharge of this borated enema, infusions of quassia are very helpful (See [Appendix]).

Children suffering from roundworms experience a loss of appetite, varying temperature from above normal to subnormal, with colicky pains in the abdomen on coming to the table and beginning to eat. They are pale and listless, or nervous and irritable.

Roundworms very much resemble earthworms in shape and color. While their home is in the small intestines they often travel to other parts of the body. They have sometimes crawled into the stomach and have been vomited. The only definite symptom of worms is to find the eggs or the worms themselves in the stool. No worm medicine should ever be given by the mouth without being prescribed by a physician. Cases are on record where well-meaning mothers have killed their children by giving an over dose of worm medicine.

Tapeworms sometimes trouble children; their segments are found in the stool, and look like small pieces of tape line. The segments are flat and thin, one-fourth inch to one-half inch in width and three-fourths to one inch in length. They are joined together and often their number is so great the worm is many feet in length. The segments grow smaller and smaller as they approach the neck, the head of the worm being a mere point. As the worm is passing from the child it should never be pulled, as the head is easily broken off, and, on remaining in the bowel, it will grow to a full-sized worm.

Worms come from the eating of half-cooked meats; they enter the stomach as eggs or tiny worms, and pass out into the small intestines, where they begin to grow. They are a common parasite in the human family and should be suspected in all instances where digestive symptoms are masked or do not yield to treatment.