The Washington times., 1935-01-15

.OWNOrn7al
But Lack
Weight
By DR.. ALLAN ROY DAFoE

Nature and science have
given excellent teamwork in
the record-breaking enter
prise of making the seven
months Dionne quintuplets
into bright, lovable, beauti-
full well children, with only
the handicap Of under
weight.
And they are reducing
that last handicap every
week, with the ounces they
gain.
In the difficult and delicate
business of feeding the little
girls during their first five
months of existence, nature and
science displayed perfect CO.
operation.
The food was natures own.
The technique of obtaining it
was strictly scientific and up
to-date.
First Day
For the first day CT the tiny
babies life, the food problem
was nonexistent. They received
only a few drops of warm
water, administered every two
hours in an eye-dropper.
Mrs. Dionne came so close to
death when her children were
born that I even felt compelled
to rush away from them, in or
der to fetch the priest to minis
ter to what I feared was
woman beyond ecovery.
Though she rallied amazingly,
and continued to gain-she is
now perfectly healthy woman
yet she could not have nursed
her five babies.
After the first "a hours, feed
1ngS were started with a few
drops of water, milk and corn
syrup solution, with one-half
drops of rum. We tried to get
mothers milk from the nurs-
ing mothers in the district, but
were hampered by a scanty al
loWance.
Saved Lives
DR.. Alan Brown and Mr..
Bower of the Sick Children's
Hospital in Toronto most kindly
offered to supply mothers milk
at no cost to us. BY this gracious
and generous arrangement, our
terribly thin and puny little girls
received, until the were five
months Of age, as much as they
needed of the best food that
could possibly be given to them.
1 have no hesitation in saying
that not one would have been
likely to survive without this
provision of natural food.
Mothers milk contains all the
food-elements needed by a grow
ing baby. 1t aids digestion. It is
perfect from the viewpoint of
sanitation.
If all mothers realized the vi
tai Importance of themselves
nursing their little ones, there
would be more breast.feeding,
healthier babies and a lowered
infant mortality rate.
Routine
Scientific hygiene played its
part in routing the milk to our
hungry babies. Members of the
Junior League collected the pre-
cious fluid from nursing moth
ers in Toronto. It was sterilized
at once, packed in dry ice and
delivered to the Dionne home
every morning by express.
At first, the babies could swal-
low only about five drops, which
was fed to them by means Of
a Brecht feeder-a glass cylin-
der with a nipple on one end
and a pressure bulb on the
other end.
This device was employed by
the nurses until their little
charges were able to take the
BOTTLE.
Gain Weight
The daily milk consumption
of the uuintuplets totalled not
more than a pint when we first
began to feed them. BY de-
grees their appetites improved
until. during the last few weeks
of this diet, they were putting
down nearly a gallon Of
mothers milk a day.
They were fed every two
hours at first. Then the in
terval between feelings was ex.
panded a half-hour at a time,
until now it amounts to four
hours, while at night the babies
go from 9 p. m. to S a. m, with.
out nourishment.
That their diet has been sat-
1sfactory is proved by their
steady increase in weight,
Ito Be Continued Tomorrow
Copyright, 1885, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)
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