Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-03-10
Infant Mortality.

Infant Mortality.
 n,snv communities, it is possibl
 m to train the existing mdWives, $
 eV74 " very materially improve tn
 '.haracter d, of their scrvices, to !requir
 esat elal thev be examined, and license
 sor sl,rI Inractice only when they shall hay
 1ot 1';apnce of such knowledge as fit
 tEiu, t,'u for this work. In considerins
 Ia' ll'e'n midwife situation in Pine Bluff
 lmaver ,nz , we do not feel sufficient,
 ho". s"u,aee by the type of Wo
 e,'roi aon investigated by Miss Marine
 I''s, s,ooest such course, although it.
 10 ssqpaacttiicability has been demonstratet
 :. many cities. We feel, on the con
 .r.rv II, w that the situation is a most de
 u"s;; .ass;no one and that active steps car
 pat pot too soon be to eliminate all o1
 .hece lu, women from any possibility o1
 ssnntributng further to the sickness
 eo1 .od doaths of the mothers and babies of the city.
 ,ony to consideration, at the present
 lime lime. it is so closely related to the
 nractice of obstetrics by these women .bat M we would mention certain deaths of mothers in this connection.
 One mother, whose death, by the wav had never been registered, was attended by a physician after she had hepn in labor several hours with a midwife and had one convlusion. By this time her condition was so serious that. although she received ski'7ful treatment. both she and the baby died. The attending physician said that, had th;s woman been under treatment a7d observation during pregnancy, he fec s o,te sure that both lives could have been saved.
 Ignorance Causes Death. Another death and one which wa discovered through Investigating tlfa. of the baby. is one of a mother who died when the baby was two weeks old. She was seen only once just ba- fore death. by physician, but ha4 been attended at birth by an jgnorar+ midwife and the inference is that sh ha died from a puerparal cause, although the fact is not definitely known. There is no doubt that, if the whole truth were known, it would be evident that not only a considerable number of infants, but many mothers as We'll, are sacrificed each year through com p|lcations of the pueperal state, which are quite susceptible of SUCCESS ful treatment, at the hands of skillfuI attendants. but which. because of the nature of the service they receive, are needessly sacrificed.
 Before ending this part of the re- port, we would say few words about tatanus neonatorum or lockjaw of the newborn. As already stated, three deaths of infants are known to have occurred from this cause. The infect ion is one which is received through uncean methods of cutting and dras- sing the cord at the time of the birth. It is absolutel y without excuse in good practice and signifies that either the hands, the instruments or the dress mgs of the birth attendant were not e'ean. It is uniformly fatal condi- ton when once it develops, the mortal tv being one hundred per cent, yet of all causes of deaths, there is none more easily preventable. By far the greatest part of deaths from this cause occur between the fifth and twentieth days of life. This period is one in which we do not expect to find oDeratlng many of the usua! causes or early infant mortality. Thus, for, example, deaths due to congenial mal- <! lolnatlons, which of course include those due to ma]formation of the neart' as failure of the foranan ovale to close, and to other gross ma1form- S3!lons, usually occur before the fifth eeav' and do also many of the deaths { rom pfematurity and marked congen- ial debility.
 Deaths from digestive disturbances are not to be looked for during this W Wptrlod Hive to twenty days.) If there IS IS any time during an infants life " w1en It is presumably properly fed, IL |. IS during the first month, as for the most il, part, even those mothers who WI. Mll' later discontinue to nurse their mTSoles' ml are nursing them at this time. ane same time barrier exists, as far as as the acute contagious are concern eu Durlng the first month, it is un- sonlmon s for infants to be exposed and | saccumb to these maladies,
 +h; occasionally, deaths may occur in u,ls ulls period from any of the causes hun hhich' as a class, we have eliminated, Sa Sa' as before stated, they are not tc n us,o expected. Tetanus, however. is rnesmlhentlv nnesal a cause of death which y1perates 1t within this period of time. da da,1a 1act' it is extremely y doubtful if eealn eoa,:l rom tetanus neonatorum occurs lGgl''7r Gfo t1an the fourth or fifth day of thet thet ana likewise must we conclude tba ,a' ta,a aeath from this cause later than ''' twentieth day is quite rare.
 r. ; Danger of Lockjaw.
 tanns nv 'I 5 aiso noteworthy that the te- Son4s Ss''as bacillus is more prevalent in the tha n oa. man Tn certain other sections of most rne country. As a general rule, it is '''S' prevalent in tropical and sub