I think a great deal of suffering might be spared especially over the
first child, if the mother could only have had a little more knowledge
how to go on, _re_ the suffering. I have been prostrated for days with
violent sickness and pain in the head. The case of miscarriage was a
very bad one, resulting in having to attend the hospital nearly two
years. The doctor says the miscarriage was caused by heavy wash-days,
one of the things I think the expectant mother ought not to have to do;
but it is one of the most important things in the home. I think if the
mother could only be allowed to take care of herself the first three
months of the time, many both deformed and deficient children might
be avoided. I do not mean for a mother to lead an idle life for three
months, because exercise is most necessary in a proper way; but such
work as washing, paper-hanging, whitewashing, and hanging clothes up to
dry, is the work that has serious results with the mother. My results
after confinement can, I think, be traced to the lack of good nursing
and good support--in such cases when one neighbour will nurse another
one, having had no experience herself.
_Wages 28s. 3d. to 37s. 6d.; five children, one miscarriage._