i thought so little over twenty five years ago i delivered this boy's father my first baby he was born at home like ninety percent of michigan's babies were in those days course but there was always some kindly neighbor to get things ready for the doctor his mother had no of being called but he was lucky then when he just turned four along with over six thousand other children in the state that was before in the years since he arrived joiner in michigan now i have a far better chance to grow up strong and healthy and free from disease today long before baby arrives every expectant mother can get prenatal care and in michigan the health centers expectant mothers may learn how to care for their children's health as well as their own he today nine out of ten michigan babies are born in a hospital that's exactly the reverse of the figures when john sr was born in those days hospital was a luxury for the expectant mother a premature underweight baby goes into an incubator where it gets special care and feeding twenty five years ago we might have lost this baby today complete medical care for babies and children there's more and more available medical facilities in almost every part of the state and the centers many of michigan's best medical doctors devote generous amounts of time without charge or parents can't afford to pay but keeping michigan hugh citizens healthy and happy is a challenge to all of us in medicine very often we family doctors get to know more about our young patients and their own mothers and fathers we know what is best for each child to protect him in advance from serious sickness one form of protection is immunization immunizing a child something like sprang a young fruit trees to prevent disease and protect the young trees around and one hundred twenty one these could have been prevented the parents have cooperated because whenever a baby in the state is immunized there will be no deaths from diptheria in one hundred twenty one  there were over four thousand five hundred victims of smallpox in the state while deaths but there was only one case and no deaths last year where preschool labor immunized this same immunization as protecting michigan's children today from an infection that meant almost certain death twenty five years ago in nineteen twenty one hooping cough killed three hundred and sixteen michigan children last year number of deaths was reduced to sixty three children under three are particularly susceptible to  sold immunization should not be put off till school age the best time for hooping cough immunization is at the age of six months the first year in a child's life is the most important time but we must not forget that from birth each youngster is an individual no tool are like parents recognize this and so does the family doctor each child must be treated as an individual if we're to bring up healthy sturdy young men and women medical science is our most wiped out the serious diseases of childhood but there are still a few which cannot as yet be prevented for example rheumatic fever and its aftereffects today cause more deaths and children than all communicable diseases combined to reduce these deaths you michigan state medical society is set up for matic fever control centers to diagnose the disease in its early stages in michigan in every part of the state medical doctors give freely of their time to detecting this disease which can do so much damage to the young heart and while science is not yet been able to prevent from attic fever it has learned the best way to treat it we know that a long rest properly supervised convalescence are really important and in the hospitals all right home the closest collaboration between parents and their family doctor is necessary to safeguard the child's future  gradually medicine is learning more about dramatic fevers and other diseases so that today's children may have an even better chance to be strong and healthy and by keeping up with the latest scientific developments with post graduate courses and through research we're keeping abreast of each new development school is never over the doctor of medicine in the battle to safeguard the health of your child and the parents of today's children can have nonprofit medical and hospital service to protect against the cost of unexpected illness our michigan state medical society is behind the blue cross plan which permits parents to pick the doctor they want for their children well over a million people in michigan are benefiting by these plans air a lot has been accomplished to keep our children healthy and strong since that lucky first baby of mine was born john rogers junior