The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1914-12-04

DIR. Henry SchWarZ OF st. LOUIS,
who has been called to Cape Girar-
deau on surgical cases frequently, is
delivering a series of lectures at
Washington University, St. Louis, to
a class of rs society women on "Par-
entail Care"
DR.. Schwarz, who is a brother-in-
law of DR.. Otto E. Forster, Vice-Presi-
dent of the First National Bank, is
considered one of the leading obste-
tricians in this country, and he is en-
deavoring to impress the women of
st. Louis, especially those of fashion,
that ignorance is fatal. In his lecture
Tuesday, which is especially interest
ing to young mothers, he said:
"In the Department of Agriculture
at Washington pamphlets regarding
health and disease of horses and cat
tie require editions reaching the mil
hon mark but the demand for the
pamphlet on Parental Care has so
far been quite modest. The existence
of the Children's Bureau at Washing
ton, D. c., and its willingness to i'm
part information regarding expectant
mothers and on all matters of child's
welfare does not appear to be suffi-
GENTLY known.
''The pamphlet will be sent free of
expense to all who ask for it. The
Childrens' Bureau, in time, hopes to
reach expectant mothers in all parts
of the United States. This pamphlet
gives detailed information on hygiene
of motherhood, complications arising
from motherhood and how to avoid
them, preparations for the mother,
outfit for the baby and the care Of the
new baby.
"The Governments interest. was
aroused after the Census Bureau es-
timated that 100000 babies under 1
year old died in 1912 in the United
States. In the registration area, he
said, more than az per cent Of the in
fants dying under 1 year of age did
not live to complete the first month
of life"
He enumerated the principal dam
gers to the child as broken limbs,
mental deficiency and epilepsy and to-
tai blindness due to opthalnlia neona-
forum, a disease of the eye. Compared
with these injuries which handicap the
individual for life, and which fill elee-
mosynary institutions at great public
expense, he said, the death of the baby
is often a blessing in disguise. Such
| injuries, he said, are usually due to
! failure to have medical attention for
many months preceding motherhood.
twenty-five per cent of the inmates
of institutions for the blind, he said,
have lost their sight from opthalmia
neonatorum, which is contracted at
birth. The disease, he said, is abso-
lutely preventable and can be checked
in its early stages by one drop of a
2 per cent solution of silver nitrate in
each eye.
The propaganda for the Twilight
Sleep DR.. Schwarz said, has called
universal attention to the fact that, in
spite of all modern advances, large
number of women do not receive the
protection against pain to which they
are surely entitled, and in this respect,
he said, this propaganda will undoubt-
edly help to bring universal relief
quicker than it would come otherwise
He cited the use and effects of various
anesthetics.
1--WE have as yet no adequate means
of taking proper care of the large por-
ton Of. our population" he said,
(which is not poor enough to be en-
titled to the free use of obstetrical