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15
mother not on any account to drink water. "It would cool the
insides too suddenly and give her the fever."
2. The baby was 3 months old, and the third child. It was
wasting, had thrush, and eczema. The mother had been attended
by a "nurse" to whom she paid 8s. per week and 3d. a day beer
money. She had washed the mother only on request and the baby
" now and then."
3. The mother had a difficult labour and was delivered under
chloroform. The "nurse" who looked after her, left her lying in
a bed, soaked in urine, for 3 days. The mother was not washed
until she got up.
4. A mother complained that the "nurse" who attended her
was personally dirty and did not wash or dry the baby properly.
She did not wash the baby's napkins but used them over and over
again, merely drying them in the interval. She threw the mother's
diapers under the bed and left them there until they became very
offensive. The mother's bed was not made during the whole of
her lying-in.
5. The baby was 2 weeks old, and the second child. The
family occupied one room. The mother was attended by a
hospital student, and nursed by a neighbour, who said she did not
understand babies, but could look after the mother. The mother
was washed once only during her lying-in. The baby was washed
on its face and hands but not elsewhere. At the first visit of the
health visitor, both mother and baby were in a very filthy
condition and smelt very offensively. The nurse explained, "It
was only top dirt and didn't matter—top dirt didn't cause no
fever."
6. The baby was a first child. The mother's milk came on
the third day, but the breasts were rather hard, so that the "nurse"
rubbed them thoroughly with camphorated oil. When the baby
was now put to the breast, it was made very ill by the camphorated
oil which it swallowed. Its life was despaired of for many days.
The mother in the meantime lost her milk.
7. The "nurse" was lame and deaf and insisted that the baby
should be clad in cotton. The mother knew that the child should
be clothed in flannel, but was too weak after her confinement to