Evening star., 1926-03-05

Note.-This is the first of series.
Of sketches shOicing the benefits
rhich can De- obtained for your
children bU 1'isitin0 the child Wei
fare and CHild Hygiene centfrs Of
the city.
No mother need be dlrGke nights
aC0rryin0 about lChdt TO do tcith an
diIin0 child. Amy mother trhO can
not.dford to call in a regular phy-
stefan eau take her child to the
nedrest child Hy0iene >or child
Welfare Center.
Look in the telephone book. call
mp the nearest center and fnd ont
the hours OF the conferences.
THE scene is laid in the Mary
Gwynn Center at the Children's
Hospital of Washington. A long hall
with the bare sanitary look of clean
,, paint. Down the middle of it there
are, rows of cubicles with a mother
al nd a baby or babies in each, over
flowing into the corridor from time to
time and making almost as many
kinds of noises as barnyard
/ Dramatis Personnel Doctor, a
Nurse. a Mother, a Baby.
Chorus Mothers and Babies.
Nurse-Step this way. please. This
is your first visit to Child Welfare
Conference, isn't it? My, how that
baby cries, Try to keep it still please.
The doctor IS listening to child's 3
heart action.
Mother bouncing the child up and
down in her arms)--Im awful sorry.
He has been making a terrible rum
pus here, and he cries so .much. AT
home that my husband is near crazy.
lie says he works hard all day and he
certainly does need his sleep at night.
But tell him | do the best / can. J
have been giving the baby medicine
Mrs. Jones said did her baby lot of
good. but l. don't know-Mrs. Jones
lost four. babies and | lost my first
and now I'm awful worried about
Willie. He amt much to look at:
kind o. picked chickeny, my husba nd
says.
Nurse-How did YOU happen ito
come to the Center?
Mother-It was my husband sent
me here. He read in. the paper about
the work of the Child Welfare Cen
tiers. He says. ''If they can keep the
well child well. like they're always
Dragging on, l guess they can make a
bawling baby stop bawling !
come along, and
Nurse-Well, this time YOU have
come to the right place. We will see
what we can do. Did the. volunteer
give you the card with the weight and
measurement of your baby? Oooks
over the card which the mother hands
I'herl This child is several pounds
underweight What have you been
feeding him? | see he IS. year OLD.
Mother-Well. / mostly nurse him
still. He did so fine on it for the first
months, but now he seems TO get. mad
at 1t. Sometimes he punches my
breast fit to kill after he has been
there a while, and he grabs the food
off my plate when he gets a chance.
When he sees us sitting down al the
table he yells to be taken up on my
lap. Today he grabbed a big piece
of pork off my plate and scuttled off
under the bed. and before we could
get him out he had it all eaten.
Nurse-Hungry, poor baby. No
wonder .he Is so mnderweight, Didn't
any one tell you that you should not
nurse your baby that long, Here you
are now. Doctor, this is Mrs. Smith
I'ilin and here is the record card we
have just made out for her baby
(The nurse passes the mother
and baby into the doctors cubicle,
where the baby is laid on fresh paper
napkins on a table covered with a
clean sheet. thorough examination
of the baby follows, as thorough as
you, kind patrons of the Children's
Hospital can obtain for your own
children, and by a docter especially
| trained in child hygiene, and inter
| ested heart and soul in the betterment
of child health. At the end of the eX-
animation the doctor turns to the
mother)
Docor-Well. mother, fortunately
for him your baby had such good
start when your breast milk was suff1-