Show AN ot eps Z 11 V 13 4 Z left photograph of mrs J ernest schiller of philadelphia which won the international grand frand prize for the loveliest Lovelle ct mother in the united states and canada in a contest conducted by the photographers As association ocia tion of america photograph courtesy of the photographers association of america center athe the spirit of motherhood this composite madonna results from the features of paintings which range in date from 1293 to 1823 it was made by joseph gray kitchell Kl after 31 years of study right photograph of mrs blanche rusby of detroit which won the international grand prize in the contest mentioned above photograph courtesy of the photographers association of america by ELMO SCOTT WATSON VATSON AY 10 Is the day this year i when america honors its mothers in accordance t with a resolution passed by congress in 1014 1914 designating i the second sunday in may alay ns as mothers day and asking the president to issue a proclamation calling upon government officials als to display the nag flag upun upon public buildings president woodrow wll wil roll eon issued such a proclamation asking his fellow 7 citizens similarly arly to display flags at their homes as a public expression of our love lova and reverence tor for the mothers of our country since that time the day lias fins been generally observed throughout the united states and there has grown up the custom of sending to our mothers letters telegrams flowers candy and other gifts on that day as well as honoring them by wearing a white carnation if ones mo mother theris i Is dead anda and a colored carnation if she la is still living all of which expresses a pretty sentiment and the origin and regular observance of Bl mothers others day inthe in the united states are facts in which americans take considerable pride but to offset this pride in the pretty sentiment Is an ugly fact of which many americans are not aware and that fact Is that the mortality rate from maternity causes in the united states Is the highest in the civilized world and that or of american mothers who die each year from childbirth causes need meed not die if they are given adequate maternity care carel I 1 do you doubt that statement about the mortality rate among american mothers if so look at these official figures compiled by the childrens bureau of crt the united states department of labor for 1827 1927 the latest year for which figures for most of these countries were available tin ln regard to the maternity death rates per LOW 1000 live babies tor for the following countries uruguay 22 italy 20 japan 28 the netherlands 29 2 9 finland 30 Ilung hungary ary t 30 Deni denmark nark 1 31 czechoslovakia ag switzerland 37 spain 39 england and wales 41 esthonia Esth onla 41 irish free state 45 Nort northern bern ireland 48 new zealand 49 lithuania 50 aft canada 4 50 56 chile 58 australia 59 50 salvador 03 scotland 64 united states 05 in the light of these statistics and the custom of wearing white carnations in honor of mothers who have died some one has asked this very u profir late question does it not seem that white carnations rina ona for each mother who needlessly died in the last year as a result of enoth motherhood er represent too great a toll in pain and sorrow to be paid for by sentiment ment alone Do however wever ar answer to that qui question atlon may be found in a movement which Is already under way for this year the observance yance of TA mothers lothers day marks the beginning of a nationwide nation wide educational campaign to reduce the mortality rate among american mothers so that shall not die in vain each year this campaign has been started by mrs airs john sloane president of the maternity ity center association in new york city and it has the indorsement endorsement Indor of high government officials at a recent white house conference president hoover said when mothers understand the standards of care they will demand protection sur geon general 11 II S cumming ot of the united states public health service in In dorsing the campaign as a new form of Bl mothers others day observance has declared the high maternal death rate Is a disgrace to our profession and I 1 am convinced that efforts such as these will go far toward improving conditions similarly grace abbott chief of the childrens bureau stated there are no more tragic deaths than of mothers in childbirth and I 1 feel sure that IF it were understood by the people of the united states that to a very large 1 extent these deaths are preventable they would be prevented typhoid fever smallpox and diphtheria have yielded to scientific control in the last quarter century and tuberculosis has been reduced to half its toll as almost everyone knows but the death rate from causes connected with maternity has haa not been lowered ni at all during the period for which records are available italy denmark and five other nations have ina maternal death rates less than half that of the united states which as has been seen geen la Is twenty sec ond on the roster of the nations of the world in many of these countries the results have been commonly achieved by legislation requiring obedience but in the united states improvement pro cannot be expected by such drastic action unless there Is popular opinion back of it we have refused to address ourselves effectively to this problem for at least twenty five years says dr ralph W lobenstine a noted obstetrician of new york city if we are to improve conditions we must face U 0 if 0 OUR MOTHERS 0 0 0 0 with little cheeks against tl clr pans pana 0 you batched at ched the sheets of rain 0 0 0 and will it ever stop top you said bald 0 g she stroked your frightened baby head bead 0 0 the star show how many miles mile away 0 0 do oven even children die some soma day 0 0 Is heaven beaven far above the blue 7 0 I 1 15 she he answered every one for you 0 0 and ad when you lel left belte te the fi resides tight light 0 0 to go away up to bed at 1814 I 1 0 where shadows lurked along the wall 0 0 those w were ere her footsteps in the hall 0 0 0 0 you saw law the sallow moonlight flow flaw 0 on fields field of 0 dying things below 0 out but far away somewhere you new diew 0 0 A silent prayer went up for you 0 thi the years live as a moment stays 0 t 0 tomorrows tint your yes yea erday i t 0 the maylind may wind tells where lilacs are ar 0 0 0 A sleigh bell tinkles to a star 0 0 now we ure tire young ow our voices voice coll call 0 0 now faded portraits on an the wail 0 0 0 0 more wet sweet these hours bourn with her will grow row 0 0 0 0 As they I 1 pass to the long 10 9 ago 0 0 and should you speak some day to men 0 i had I 1 wr cpr life ak to live gala 0 0 may you live livo now that you can say 0 0 0 1 I 1 would not net change a aing single dayl day 0 0 0 thomas homsey fenil 0 0 0 them not rationalize the humiliating conclusion Is that tills this national disgrace can call be removed when as a people we set out to remove it the idea of going to a physician at once states dr frank W lynch a leading obstetrician of san francisco may seem ridiculous to the ordinary woman she would not think so if she realized the value of taking things thIng sIn in time in nearly every hospital in the land it will be found that most tragedies occur in women who were not under medical supervision during the period of the childs development perhaps the root of the difficulty states carolyn conant van blarcom Bl arconi in her book obstetrical nursing lies iles in the fact that childbirth as well as the attendant suffering and death are so familiar that they are regarded as being normal barma Inel incidents depts in the ordinary course of affairs one of the most dramn dramatic tle of all human human events the birth of a new being Is accepted casually almost without concern because it Is so frequent s so 0 commonplace Blore moreover over wo we are nil accustomed to hearing stressed the fact that childbearing Is not a disease but Is a normal physiological function not so generally however do we hear emph asis put upon the equally important fact that there Is extreme danger of infection while these physiological functions are in progress and that they must subject the entire organism to such a strain that there results a dangerously narrow margin between health and disease here Is the evidence that adequate maternity care saves mothers lives louis I 1 dublin ph D statistician of the metropolitan life insurance company and an expert internationally alIT known examined the records of mothers cared for by the maternity Ity center association over a period of six years in a certain section of new york city he compared the results with what happened to mothers in the same section of the efty city not receiving such care this showed that those in the first group have about three times as good a chance to survive as the others the result says ills his report Is indicative dica tive or of the saving of lives that might be accomplished were every mother to receive the benefit of ado ade quate maternity care As more than women in the united states every year die from causes related to maternity this means that more than denelia are preventable in addition of the babies who now die in the first month of it life would be saved infants as well as mothers are protected by adequate maternity care there is nothing peculiar to the civilization of the united states to account for the fact that our maternal death rate la is more than twice that of such countries ns its denmark and the netherlands where records are kept as carefully as they are here this count rys low position on the roster of nations of the world la Is because there Is a striking absence here of trained C care are for the great massof mass of women in moderate circumstances who have children we have allowed things to go on with indifference to the waste of lives of mothers and babies assuming that all was waa well when decidedly it was not the situation must be reme remedied aled 6 1031 union |