Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-04-30
BABY WEEK DRAWS
ATTENTION Of THE
NATION FOR FUTURE
BY GRACE L. MEIGS. NJ. D.,
OF the Children's Bureau, Department
of Labor

/ of Labor.
During Baby Week committee asks
itself how the youngest citizens are
being protected and cared for, and
Baby Week shall mark fresh start,
toward meeting their varied needs. OF
course a community can protect its
/ little children only as it protects the
home in which they live and so the
community work during Baby Week
and afterwards may we'll consider
three things: Are we safeguarding
the life and health of mothers Are
the parents in this community learn
ing how to care for their children so
that they will grow up well and good
and happy? Are we tolerating econ
omic standards which make decent,
wholesome, intelligent care impossible?
! Of these three things, perhaps the
first, is the least generally understood,
ard therefore the protection of moth
ers might well receive special emphas
is during this years Baby Week.
Some 15 900 mothers are dying each
year from causes connected with
childbirth although maternal deaths
are in large measure preventable, and
uncounted mothers are suffering from
unnecessary illness because they have
not had proper maternity care. All
this reacts disastrously on the children
who pay for the lack of a strong, hap
Ply mother in many ways, sometimes
with their own lives, sometimes with
unnecessary illness. sometimes with
constitutions permanently weakened
past upbuilding. Personally, l believe
that many mothers do not understand
their own needs. They do not realize
how important good maternity care is
both to themselves and to their babies.
| l. Baby Week could help mothers to
see more clearly how much of their
illness and danger is preventable, it
would mark long step toward max
ing available to all the means of pre-
venting unnecessary illness and death
from maternal causes.
At present many expectant mothers
make no attempt to secure skilled
supervision throughout the months
before their babies are born. They
i - IN,
ed attendants in their homes during
confinement And after-care and a
iperiod of rest until strength has re-
turned are essentials absolutely un-
1 known in many homes.
H Then there is the whole field of
hygiene, which is still very little I'M
derstood by many people although it
is of primary Importance in prevent
Il ing complications for the mother and
the illness of her baby. Simple and
popular statements of the daily care
which an eXpectant mother should
have and the kind of care a we'll baby
should have are contained in two bull
letins of the Childrens Bureau and in
various shorted pamphlets which can
also be secured by any mother without
cost During Baby Week, copies of
such literature can be placed in the
hands of many mothers, and wide pub
licity can be given to the value of
such information in preventing illness
OF course mothers may understand
perfectly what they need in the way of
food and clothing and rest, and they
may realize that they should have
skilled supervision and trained at
tendance, but they may be quite unable
to obtain these things. Baby Week can
4 not stop with campaign of publicity
about the mothers needs 1t must
& also develop, or inaugurate, commun-
j ity work by which the essentials OF
proper care are made available to
every mother Visiting nurses, prac-
tical clinics, maternity hospitals, and
irfant-welfare stations have proved
their value in many cities. | doubt if
there is a single community in the
country-whether congested city, a
small town, or a scattered rural settle
ment-where further provision for
maternity care is not urgently needed
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