Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-12-21
b. ANNA STEESE RICHARDSON

circle. They do not deal with remedies or cures,
but with the prevention of ailments which will as
sumo such proportions that a physician must be
called IN.
Mothers-and doctors-are waking up to the real
ization that preventive medicine is the crying need
among babies. The day when babies were supposed
to "outgrow" certain d~isngurements or tendencies to
disease or weakness is past. Most Of us can look
back to the b%arbarous practice Of soothing . baby
with paregoric and then trusting to Nature to relieve
the condition which made soothing necessary. We
really seemed to thing that a miracle would be work
ed while the baby slept!
If a baby adtsany terrible deformity or acute
disease, we turned to surgeon or physician. but we
took long chances with the baby who was merely
good. We never stopped to figure that a good baby
could be made a better baby by intelligent care, q
better baby transformed into a well-night perfect
baby. And yet, parents owe the children they bring
into the world precisely this care.
One Of the most interesting features of the Better
Babies Contests which ! have visited this fall has
been the amazement of some mothers when they
discovered that with, oh, such a little care and atten'
ton, they could work such wonders in their babies.
AS an example, in one city near New York, the
physician in charge of the examinations at a contest
asked me If I would attend a meeting, or dress re-
VoAoO VI ~ " Wv -
contest. They wanted a demonstration Of just how
babies are examined by the Better Babies Standard
scorecard. So all the arrangements were made, the
physicians agreeing to have a real baby on hand for
a model" to undergo the full examination.
The baby was scored precisely as II a regular
contest was under way, and was penahzed s for a
rough skin and Is for an eruption. The mother pro-
tested vigorously. The doctors showed her a fine
eruption over the abdomen and under the armpits.
She declared that the child had always had the marks
they were a sort Of birth-mark. The doctors ex.
planned that such an eruption indicated overlooking.
Here was a bottlefed baby. getting too heavy q fare.
The mother admitted that she knew nothing about
modifying the milk. The doctors told her how it
should be done.
The %roughness Of the skin was due to mosquito
bites, lots Of them. The mother said she couldn't
help that and neither could the baby. That was the
fault Of the mosquitos! The doctors did not agree
with her. They explained that a careful mother pro-
tected her child from mosquitoes with a netting, that
mosquitoes carried disease, that the itching sores made
the baby nervous.
The mother listened resentfully, especially when
she saw that by the card her baby scored only 80.
Nevertheless, she must have thought a great deal
about what those doctors said. because when the real
contest was held in her city. six weels later, she
entered her baby and it carried off a first prize, scor-
ing 80 per cent. The chairman of the committee in
charge of the work wrote me that this mother had
~lightened the quality Of the baby's food, and the rash
had disappeared. She had cleared her house of mos.
quitos and the baby's skin was smooth asa rose
petal! Which shows that a Better Babies Contest
makes mothers hink-and act. Also, that a child
can be made healthier and happier with just g little
thought and attention.
At another contest, where very large prizes we're
ho!yon - rnothor oorno n me IN tpars r. How hahv was
a beauty, but 1t had not won a prize. She brought
the baby to me to prove its beauty, doll-ike features.
absolutely classic in their fneness, delicate skin, soft,
silken curls. And those stern doctors had said that
~the~baby could not have a prize just because its
teeth we're dark and its stomach too big!
This baby was three years old. It's head should
have measured 20 inches in circumference, its chest
Il and its abdomen 20. Instead, its head measured
1a. its chest 10 IL, and its abdomen, Pip. In a
wee baby the abdomen is protuberant, but from two
years on the chest should be- larger than the abdo-
men. This indicates two things-that. the child's re-
~spiratory organs are in good condition, with a fine
chest development, and that the food is properly d.
gested.
1t took considerable questioning to find out why
this pretty child was not in good condition. but in
time We got at the truth. Th%e.little girlsloved candy.
She inherited the taste from her father and they had
INDUCED her because they thought she could not help
It! The discolored, ~decaying teeth and the s~protuber.
ant abdomen both resulted from overindulgence In
sweets, The mother was urged to reduce the amount
Of candy given the Child, not suddenly, but by grad.
ualy substituting sweetened fresh or stewed fruit,
and then as gradually reducing the amount OF sugar
served with the fruit. This was seven months ago,
and now the mother writes that the abdomen is
smaller, the teeth In better shape and the. child much
less fretful. @sNa
It is shocking to see the number of children
brought to contests who at three, four and five years
very soft, indeed. can now be purchased, At first,
the teeth is a sure Indication Of maternal care--or
lack of it. Just as soon as the little teeth appear,
they should be cleansed.s Baby-size tooth brushes
save discolored, ~decaying teeth. The condition OF
Glasgow has been willed $4,000 for a research lee
tureship in medicine and $4,000 from three other