The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-08-23
INCUBATED BABIES.
SCIENCE is DOING WONDERS FOR IN
FAINT WEAKLlNGS.


Citizens Saved From Death In the Tene-
ments-Late Improvements.
"TIe was incubated, " the proud mother
Of some great man of the future will say
of her son, for the baby incubator is
success and has come to stay. The doctors
declare that incubators have already been
the means Of saving the lives Of 100 in
fants in New York In fact, the newborn
baby, who under old fashioned methods
had no chance of living, now, If put in an
incubator, stands about an even chance of
becoming healthy, growing youngster.
Baby incubators are now in two hospitals
in the city the Postgraduate hospital, on
East Twentieth street, and the Maternity
hospital of the Women's Medical college,
on East Fifteenth street.
A bright young woman, with a sweet
face and modest ways is in charge of the
babies at the Maternity hospital. There is
a room IN the third story there, a room
with n great window which lets in plenty
of light and overlooks the tops of the trees
in Stuyvesant park, Around the walls are
four cribs of from 10 to 12 feet in length.
In two of these there were three little
lumps.
You discover that these Jumps are alive
and. breathing. They are very small and
delicate and dainty and pink. They are
babies sure enough. Amy man could tell
that, but nobody would ever think they
are incubator raised.
A cUzier place for baby could not be
imagined. Here the embryo citizens have
every opportunity the world affords to
hold on to life and to grow healthy and
strong, while in the tenements where their
parents live the lives of the frail little
things would have been snuffed out in less
than a day after they first saw the light.
The incubator is used only for prema-
turely born. babies and Tor babies which
are SO weak that the wise young woman
doctors are pretty cure they will die if left
in the open air. Strangely enough, the
incubator is shaped something like "a cof-
fin, while its particular aim is to keep ba-
bies out of coffins. There are two kinds
of baby incubatorsr and they differ some
what in construction. The babies are tax
en- out of the incubators at the Maternity
hospital to get their nourishment directly
from their mothers, who live in the build
ing, but the mother of the baby in the
Postgraduate hospital may not see her off
spring from one weeks end TO another.
Therefore the youngster must be fed by
artificial means, and after much expert
ment and study the doctors have complet-
ed an incu bator by means Of which the ba-
by is nourished without being removed
from its snug little nest.
The moment baby for the incubator
arrives at the Maternity hospital the white
capped nurses and the doctors gather about
the little wooden box, which rests upon a
stand some or feet high. Baby is
swathed very carefully in warm clothes
and is then weighed, clothes and all, be-
fore he is laid inside and the glass cover is
placed over him.
Underneath the board upon which the
little mite rests are three bottles that are
kept constantly full of hot water. The
air passing in from below flows over these
and through an opening in the board into
the chamber where the infant is. A ther-
mometer Keeps the attendant continually
informed as to the temperature, and a lit
tie aluminium anenometer in the small
chimney through which the air escapes,
and which furnishes the draft that keep,
the baby supplied with fresh air always
| indicates whether or not the circulation OF
! air is good,
The weight is a very important matter
| One baby in the incubator is weighed -
| cry day. A healthy baby should show q
| slight diurnal increase in weight, and il
| the doctors find that the diminutive pa
tient is not growing heavier they seel
remedies for his indisposition. This is bht
truest method they have of ascertaininG
the baby's progress and therefore tht
| greatest care is taken that its clothes shal
| always be of the same weight, as two o.
three ounces is a considerable increase TO
young man or woman whose aggregate
fafr II
About 20 per cent of the ''incubated" ba
bies have lived, and at least 80 per cent o
these would have died but for the incuba
tor.
The incubator in the babies ward of tn
Postgraduate hospital is a great improve
ment on that at the Maternity hospital, al
though it lacks the sentimental surround
ings of the one in charge of the youni
woman doctors. In this improved affai
the patient will not have to be once LITE
from his snug nest from the time he
. placed inside until he becomes stron
enough to be removed with safety.
The incubator is set upon bicycle wheel
so 1t may be moved about whenever dc
sired The fresh air is heated by passin
between two strata of hot water, rises u
both 1T the head and the foot of the maj
tress ana is kept in motion by an alumni
ium fan run by clockwork, this prevent
= ing any possibility of the little patient
suffering for want of air There is also
e tube for the supply of oxygen, hber;
2 quantities of which are good for babi,
Il who are hanging on TO life by the merei
a thread, and it is believed this improy,
); ment win save a great many lives thu
;. would have been lost in the old incubato
, By means Of a clever mechanical deviC
d the weight of the baby is always registered
d so that the physician may discover IL
slightest variation at any time, Infan
are subject to tubercular diseases, whiC
develop before the doctor knows what
y the matter, OF course the incubator mu
n be opened in order to feed the baby its a
s. tifloial food, but by means of deft slidir
y of the covers the entrance of any cold a
4 from the outside is prevented The ten
a perature of the inside of the incubator
Y kent as near 9S degrees as possible. Ne