Page:Shubala - a child-mother (IA shubalachildmoth00soraiala).pdf/19

 And the damage done is to the expectant Mother as well as to the Baby, when it comes.

The women do not know how to treat themselves before their time is upon them. They have no loving habits of preparation and looking forward, not because there is no mother love or longing at their hearts; but because "to take the baby for granted," would be unlucky. Often their whole life's happiness depends upon whether the baby will come, upon whether it will be a son, and they do not know that their very fear and anxiety and depression may be spoiling their chances; they are ignorant of the way their thoughts can help their longings, and yet the success with which any suggestion of this kind is met, proves how simple a remedy is lying at their feet for the taking; and makes the neglect of offering that remedy all the greater.

The saddest face I have seen in all the world was that of a poor child-wife whose longing for a baby, coupled with her