Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-07-19

lily accompanied by unSpeakaDle
agony. Tt is true that for the average
woman childbirth is attended by more
or less suffering. but if the event has
been properly prepared for; if it has
been looked forward to during the eX-
pectant period with right thoughts,
there is no reason why the expectant
mother, if she is sound in mind and
body, should approach motherhood
with fear.
The expectant mother should pre-
pare her heart and mind to understand
mOtherhoOd's beautiful significance,
and should remember that much of
the suffering OF collaborating is due to
anxiety.
"a woman should keep her body in
condition to bear healthy children
without harm or undue pain to her
self. Mothers should impress upon
their daughters the Importance of
physical fitness for maternity. No
false standards of fashion should be
allowed to interfere with the natural
free development toward this end.
Upon the proper functioning of the
mothers body depends the health of
both mother and child. AS no other
time is it so necessary for a woman
to attend to her health as Immediately
preceding the birth of a child. The
expectant mother should be sure that
her blood is pure, that she has ample
supply of those elements which will
give the child bone, muscle and flesh.
She should not daily load her stomach
with more food than she can assim-
late. If the body is given more food
than it can use, it will be cIogged with
waste, which, if retained, will poison
and weaken the digestive system.
##
Our Grandmothers believed that the
pregnant woman should be permitted
TO eat any articles of food she craved
that if her appetite called for certain
things, it was an indication that her
system lacked something which those
foods supplied. They also believed that
she should eat as much as she desired
because she must eat for two
We must always distinguish be-
tween appetite and desire. Usually
an undue craving for food is due to
an abnormal flow of digestive juices;
it is a certain form of nervous hyster-
IA. Therefore, if one Graves unwhole-
some foods, self-controI should be
Dracticed. The expectant mother
might UnduIy crave alcohol, but if this |
craving were INDUCED, the child might |
be born with a weak mind or other
She might crafty her ap-
petite for meat until her system would
be surfeited with albumin, and
Bright's disease would result.
> $50
1t is true that during pregnancy the
mother must eat for two, but it must
be remembered that one of the two is
very small (the average person eats
for two at any time). Moreover, she
must eliminate for two, through the
lungs. skin, and other eliminating or
gans, which at such a time do nearly
double duty. The safe course for her
to follow is to eat judiciOusly, as one
should eat ordinarily.
1t is important during pregnancy
that the kidneys should be kept act
i've. One should drink freely of pure
water and eat regularly of diuretic
foods Vegetables, fruits, and coarse
grains should be the chief articles OF
diet. Foods that are difficult to di-
gest, such as pastry, pickles, lobster,
and fried dishes should be avoided,
also tea and coffee, which unduly slim
ulate the heart One should not eat
heavily just before retiring. If one
is nervous and restless, a glass OF
hot milk before bedtime will be found
soothing and restful.
Next to diet, one of the most i'm
porta4t things to consider in the by
giene of pregnancy is regular, jud1c-
ious exercise This exercise should
begin as soon as a woman is cognl-
zant Of her condition. Exercise car
ries off waste from the tissues. If ii
is of the utmost Importance that waste
be eliminated; otherwise the blood
becomes Initiated by the pOisons re
tanned in the body and the assimilation
Of nourishment becomes difficult. One
of the chief means of eliminating
waste is through vigorous lung action
which is stimulated by exercise. II
every tissue, and particularly the It's
sues Of the vital organs, are kept in
repair through the proper disposal OF
waste, vitality and strength are in
sured.
While on the subject of exercise,
should like to point out that walking
is not sufficient exercise. In walking
one uses the legs more freely than the
rest of the body The best exercise
is that which neglects no part Of th'
body. and which is especially directed
toward bringing into play the pelvic
organs, the abdominal muscles, anC
the muscles used in breathing. Sucl
exercise may be taken in ones room
In fact. one gets better exercise il
fifteen minutes work in a bedroom
than in a five-mile walk.