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930.
38
But it is not only on the question of food and feeding that
advance has been made, though in some other directions the
obstacles are greater. I think it will be admitted that an improvement
has occurred in the matter of clothing. One of our
greatest difficulties in effecting an improvement in the matter of
clothing has been the fight against tradition. From time
immemorial, it has been the custom to wrap up the tiny baby in
swaddling clothes, which so cramp the baby's movements that
he is unable to move his limbs. It has taken may years to educate
the mothers to the fact that the only exercise the baby: can have
is by kicking his legs and moving his arms about, and that the.se
movements are restricted when he is confined in his long clothes.
These long clothes also exclude the beneficial effects of the sun
and the air from his body. Mothers are becoming much more
sensible of the good effects of exposure of the body to the action
of the sun, and they make every effort to put the baby out of doors
in the perambulator. Occasionally we hear of the. difficulties
which the mothers have to contend with. They may be occupying
an unstairs flat and they are not allowed the use of the back
garden. Fortunately, most of the houses in Acton have a fair
sized garden, but this garden is often in the sole possession of
the tenants of the ground floor flat. But the mothers make every
effort to overcome this difficulty by trying to take the baby out in
the perambulator during some part of the day. We are fortunate
in this district in the matter of open spaces, and I think it can
be said that the mothers are taking increasing advantage of these
open spaces for the benefit of the baby's health.
There is one other article of clothing which is taking a great
deal of time in its banishment. Some mothers still cling to the
old tight binder around the baby. Its original purpose, I imagine,
was its supposed efficacy in imparting support to the back and
protection to the organs of the abdomen. If this function were
at any time fulfilled, it would have to be so tight as to be positively
harmful. More frequently it was found to have slipped up under
the arms and impeded the free movements of the chest, and in
this manner was more harmful even than in its original position
and more uncomfortable. These conceptions of what is a suitable
clothing are gradually passing away and the tight binder is
gradually giving way to the warm loose vest reaching to the lower
part of the body.
These are some of the features in which success has been
gradually attained and the success is reflected not only in a
lowered infantile mortality, but also in a much lower mortality
in the years immediately following. In contemplating the lowered
infantile mortality we sometimes lose sight of the still greater
improvement which has taken place in the age period 1 to 5 years.
The baby reaches the end of his first year in a far better condition
to withstand the trials and illnesses which await the toddler.