Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/627

 when the baby is taken out, and partial incubation is arranged for it with, screens, hot- water bottles, and a basket on a chair placed close by the fire, until it is pronounced . 1 1^1 1 i ■•1 pHHIfe' 6oT CHILORCN people of limited means, who could not afford the expense of such an apparatus — an admirable substitute may be rigged up at a moment's notice, all that is absolutely required being an ordinary threefold kitchen clothes-horse, a couple of small sheets, some tape, a chair, a basket (half of a pilgrim hamper does excellently), and last, but not least, a reliable thermometer. One sheet is tied round the three sides of the clothes-horse, while the second sheet is thrown over the top of it to form a roof, thus making a complete tent. The basket, fitted with the ordinary baby's bedding, is placed on the chair inside the tent, and the thermometer placed in an upright position at the head or foot of the improvised cradle, or fastened up inside the tent with the help of a safety- pin. If the whole ap])aratus is now turned so that the front of it faces the side of the nursery fender a beautifully warm and level temperature can be maintained. In order to keep the cradle itself as warm as possible, three hot- water bottles with woollen covers, are placed in it, one at the foot of the basket, and one at either side of the child; or, in an emergency, if no hot-water bottles are forthcoming, bricks k 3y General Lying'in Hospital at York Road, Lambeth, London strong enough to be promoted to an ordinary cradle ; and soon after this the delighted mother is allowed to come and take it away home with her. The skin of an infant which is prematurely born is, as a rule, far too delicate for it to wear the usual clothes from a layette prepared for an ordinary little one, or even to be bathed in the customary way. Instead, it is carefully oiled all over as quickly as possible, and gently wrapped in cotton-wool, while a wee woollen or muslin cap, also lined with cotton-wool, is put on to its head. It is now ready to be placed in the incubator, there to remain, if necessary, almost without handling, for several weeks. A delightful set of dainty little garments has been provided for the inmates of the incubator by one of the old hospital sisters. Baby incubators are not only used in hospitals and public institutions ; they are in great request by private patients for the use of delicate children born in their own homes, and specially-trained nurses used to incubator work are often despatched from the hospital all over the country at a moment's notice. An excellent baby incubator may be obtained for /y 15s., and can be warmed by either gas, oil, or electricity, but it is also possible to arrange to hire one for a specified length of time. In cases where a child is born prematurely, or is very weakly at birth, and no proper incubator is to hand — in one of our distant colonies, or in India, for instance, and for Partial incubation with screens, hof'water bottles, etc. heated in the oven and wrapped in flannel or in rags, or even screw-stoppered bottles filled with hot water may take their place. The incubators should never be used except when ordered by a doctor.