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Show Babies in Backwoods Georgia County TWENTIETH-CENTURY mothers moth-ers and babies, facing hardships hard-ships of Seventeenth-century pioneer life, are described in a report on "Maternity and Infant Care in a Mountain County In Georgia," made public by the United States Department De-partment of Labor through the children's chil-dren's bureau. The Georgia county surveyed by the bureau lies in the southern-most extension ex-tension of the Blue Ridge mountain belt. Its people are American by birth and descent. Because of the mountainous character of the district and the lack of good roads, their homes are isolated and often almost Inaccessible, and they have not shared in the development of the rest of their state and nation. Some homes visited could not be reached even by wagon and had to be sought out by trail over mountains and through streams. A few mothers and fathers were visited whq had not been to nearby villages In years ; some had never )seen a traki. The county had almost no public health resources. It contained no hospital hos-pital ; none of the nearby Georgia counties had hospitals. There were only seven physicians In the county and the difficulties of travel made it aften Impossible for the mountain mother to secure any physician. Sojne- times a sick mother or child had to be carried over miles of rough road to reach the nearest doctor. Mothers and babies suffered from the lack of medical help. Eighty-six per cent of the motiers who were questioned went through the period of pregnancy without any medical aid whatever. The others received totally inadequate care. Two-thirds were attended at-tended by physicians at childbirth, but in a number of cases the doctor did not arrive until after the baby was born. Seventy-seven per cent of the mothers who were attended by physicians were not visited at all after the birth of the baby. No physician phy-sician was reported in attendance at the deaths of more than two-thirds of the babies in the group studied who died in their first year. Few mothers knew the best way to feed and care for children, not only because they lacked medical advice, but also because many of them could not read or write. Practically all mothers nursed their babies, but some babies received solid food even during dur-ing the first month. Buttermilk, sweetened coffee, sirup, butter, eggs, cornbread, meat, potatoes and other vegetables were among the foods given in the first month. Some of the foods given before the sixth month included sausage, pickled beani and chocolate candy. ' |