Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-08
Lady Helms1ey Denotes
Her Life to Poor Babies

working and paying for it. Referring
to this policy. Lady Helmsley says:
THE ties of motherhood are strength
ened and the temptation to desertion
lessened IL the child returns to its
mothers care every night In the alb
sence of the creche the mother is often
compelled to place her child in a noti-
fled house Ca baby farm where she
sees it rarely; In these circumstances
it is often found that the Intervals be-
tween her visits grow longer and longer
and In the end the child Is deserted. [
plead for these children. and IA years
experience of rescue work has conyinC-
ed me that wheroit is possible to keep
the mother in touch with her child it
Is beneficial in every way for where
the mother works to keep her child 1t
helps her to regain her selfrespect."
EFFECT ON MOTHERS.
Looking at the case for establishing
creeches from another aspect, the Wis
countess speaks of their educational
effect upon the mothers.
For instance" she says. everything
is done TO encourage the mothers TO
come and nurse their babies One
creche provides splendid dinners for
the nursing mothers at small charge.
for many women, from poverty or the
nature of their work, are not properly
their infants. A heavy fine is demand
ed from any mother caught giving
tho baby some of her dinner. which is
a common occurrence at first. until
they learn wisdom. Speaking al Il
recent meeting of the society, Sir John
Kirk said that In a code of rules drawn
up for ignorant mothers it had been
found necessary to Insert 'Snails arc
not good for children under u months.
Those who work among the poor
know how often the babies which at
birth are nice. fat, and fairly healthy,
fall off in a few weeks, either from
unfavorable surroundings. wrong feed
ing or neglect. Then begins the weary
routine of the ordinary London baby:
weeks In the hospital from which it
comes out u little better and stronger
only to miss the care and attention
of trained guardians; then begins an
other period at some other hospital
then it falls again. and dies.
Nothing pleases a collection OF the
kind of mothers I am thinking of bet
ter than to discuss and revel In the
details OF all the weeks their special
baby has spent under st. Bartho-
lomews or st. Thomas's' They Will
show you emaclated infants, With faces
like old men OF women. and tell you
how fat they were when they were
born. how they failed and died
1.-The care ana attention pcStoMeu
upon the small babies is not in vain:
and when they go into the 'toddlers'
nursery,nt II months DID, 1t is not diff
fcult 10 distinguish those who have
been brought up altogether by the
creche; they are obviously stronger
and healthier than those who come In
later; children who have been given no
chance by hard circumstances improve
week by week, and 1t Is astonishing
to see how quickly they respond to the
stimulus of good food and clean. cheer
full surroundings"
In view of what Lady Helmsley says
1t Is interesting to note that In Eng
land $40, 900 children are born every
year OF these 10000 die before they
are Il months old. In two parishes
of London out of every 1000 born 204
in the one and 40 in the other die be-
fore they are IL months old. Hese sure
Iy is Justification Tor the crecne