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32
Feeding is undoubtedly the most important item in the life of the
infant, while it is certainly the most difficult to deal with from the
Health Visitor's point of view. It has been said that "a baby well fed
will grow up healthy in mind and body." It certainly will have a
better chance of battling against the ills of life than the puny, ricketty
child which must necessarily be the result of improper feeding.
But how to make the mother realize that to feed baby "whenever
he cries" is to kill him with kindness, and that to give a child of a few
months of age a little of everything from the general table is extremely
undesirable, is the problem with which the Health Visitor is faced, and
a very discouraging task it proves in many cases.
This is particularly hard to deal with where poverty makes milk
unattainable, as is frequently the case. Bread and butter with a little
tea, or gruel made with water, are poor substitutes for milk.
An attempt has been made in the Lower Place area, where the
death-rate amongst infants is particularly high, to interest and help the
mothers by simple talks and demonstrations in the best methods of
infant rearing.
This has been attempted under peculiarly difficult circumstances.
So many of the mothers are out at work during the greater part of the
week, that Monday is the most suitable day for any meeting. The
mothers' meetings at the Mission Churches are held on Monday
afternoons, so it was considered desirable to hold the fortnightly
meetings of the "Mothers' Welcome"—as the meeting has been
termed—immediately following the Mothers' Meeting at the Steele
Road Mission, and arrangements were made for the Health Visitors to
have the use of the rooms at that time.
Dr. H. J. Campbell, of Hampstead, has been in attendance at the
meetings, and has provided an admirable pair of scales for weighing
the babies. After superintending the weighing of the babies,
Dr. Campbell has advised the mothers as to the best food to give those
children who are hand-fed, and as to the best diet for the mother