Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-07-15

pairing IlSdl III yOuA OWH
fact, you might say that just
being alive is dangerous.
Practically every minute of
our lives, we're in danger from
something or other. The point
I want to stress is that having
a baby in the middle of the goth
century is so safe that no pros
, Ipective mother needs to worry
about it. And that means that
no prospective father needs to
do any worrying, either. In 1945,
the most recent year for which
national figures are available,
the maternal death rate for the
entire United States was Fl for
each ten thousand live births.
What are the main reasons for
this? Well, one very important
reason is that the majority of
epectant mothers receive good
prenatal care. Our doctors are
we'll trained to give such care,
and district nurses constantly
encourage expectant mothers to
take full advantage of it Most
mothers know that they should
90 to the doctor for complete
check-up early in pregnancy -
: certainly before the third month
Safety for both mother and baby
depends largely on good pre-
natal care, begun early in preg-
nancy.
One of the most frequent
causes of maternal deaths In the
old days was infection. A hun
dred years ago, nearly one birth
i'm evecy ten proved fatal for the
mother, because of so-called
childbed fever. We've learned a
great deal about that dreaded
disease during the past century.
The most recent advancement
resulted from the discovery of
the sulfa drugs and penicillin.
These drugs, together with the
extreme care that is taken to
prevent any infection from
reaching the mother, have mark
edly reduced maternal deaths
from this cause
m, The other chief cause of ma
ternal deaths has been obstetric
hemorrhage Deaths from this
cause, too, have been greatly re-
duced during recent years. OBJ
stretricians are learning how to
control excessive bleeding asso-
ciated with childbirth. Most ply
sicians now give all maternity
patients an injection of Vitamin
K upon admission to the hos
pital. This reduces the danger
of excessive bleeding and also
helps to prevent certain birth
injuries to the baby. Blood
transfusions can now be quite
safely given to the mother to
replace the blood she loses.
More than half of all the ma
ternal deaths in the past have
been due to these two causes, in
lection and hemorrhage. Among
the other reasons for maternal
deaths are diseases not normally
or necessarily associated with
pregnancy and childbirth-such
as appendicitis and pneumonia,
which might happen to anyone.
Another outstanding reason
for our fine maternal health
record is the fact that most
mothers receive good medical
care after the baby's birth. Here
again, we have the work of the
district nurse, member of Red
Feather Services, to thank for
much of our progress. She not
only visits the expectant mother
before the baby comes, but she
also goes to see the mother and
the baby after they come home
from the hospital. One of the
a nurses chief jobs is to keep
"a watch over these so-called post
partum cases. She shows the
new mother how to protect her
own health and how to care for
her baby. Thus the visiting
nurse is helping to reduce ILL
ness and death among both
mothers and babies.
Let's look for minute at an
other aspect of having a baby.
Many women now realize that
childbirth is nothing to be
feared. They aren't taking their
lives in their hands when they