View report page

39
This type of case supplies a large proportion of infants whose mothers
are apt to report their milk failed soon after they got up after their confinement;
but bottle-feeding naturally produces no alteration in the
child's behaviour and frequently adds dyspepsia to its troubles.
Failures of lactation are sent to this department, and its records
contain many instances of successful re-establishment of breast-feeding.
The methods used are of the simplest. The child is coaxed and taught
to restart suckling; massage of the breasts, as advocated by Truby King,
and their alternate douching with hot and cold water are carried out,
and the women encouraged to do it for themselves at home. The necessary
hand-feeding is done with a spoon, and this encourages the infant to
suckle. Dummies are prohibited. The regularity and patience which
these women show is a remarkable tribute to their devotion. At first
they are required to attend four times daily. Later alternate days
may suffice, and as the feeding improves, their presence only on one or
two days weekly is demanded to verify the amount of milk yielded.
This work is proving itself steadily a most valuable clinical adjunct to
the weekly consultations, and reduces the amount of guesswork prescription
of bottle feeds to a minimum. Not the least part of its value is
the object-lesson it provides of the benefit to the babies of sleep in the
open air. Without a practical demonstration of its possibilities and
safety, many of the mothers find it impossible to overcome a feeling of
its riskiness. Having once had their fears allayed, they are willing
and eager to carry out the same treatment at home, and are fortified
to withstand the warnings and criticisms of their more timid neighbours.
If a comparison were to be made of work in the clinics to-day compared
with work ten years ago, one would say unhesitatingly that the
most striking change is the early application by the mothers for advice.
At the start of the work we were far too much occupied in trying to
remedy unsuccessful experiments in artificial feeding. Help was asked
when it was obvious that the child had failed on bottle food. Now we
are asked why the breast-feeding is not satisfactory, and before bottlefeeding
is embarked on. The difference appears to us to be both
significant and encouraging.
H. K. WALLER.