Among the prize-winning children at a Better Babies Contest on the Pacific Coast was a little boy, born of the type of woman commonly known as “delicate.” Throughout her girlhood she had been a semi-invalid. Her husband’s friends shook their heads when the engagement was announced. The first year of their married life was marked by frequent illnesses for the wife. When she learned that she was to become a mother, she was suddenly alarmed for the future of her child. She made an earnest study of how to reform her own life so that her child might be spared the ailments from which she suffered. She chose a normal, nourishing diet, and persisted in it. She gradually learned to take and enjoy outdoor exercise. She had a small porch converted into an outdoor sleeping-room. As a result—her labor was easy and natural, her child healthy, normal and good-tempered. Her own health was rehabilitated. She has never reverted to her former state of semi-invalidism. CHAPTER II BABY’S BIRTHDAY CHOOSING THE NURSE AND DOCTOR—SANITARY BEDROOM AND ITS EQUIPMENT—THE BABY’S LAYETTE—PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS IN NEW-BORN BABIES—THE BABY’S FIRST BATH The ushering of a new life into the world is an event so momentous and fraught with such wonderful possibilities for both mother and child that it should be planned with every possible precaution. No item of preparation, however trifling, should be left to the last moment. The mother should be able to find relief in the thought that all things are in readiness for the safety and comfort of herself and her child. The doctor who will be in attendance should be chosen early in the period of pregnancy and consulted whenever the expectant mother feels any anxiety about herself. In this matter the wishes of the woman should be supreme, for her dread of confinement will be greatly lessened if she feels confidence in her physician. I have known women to become extremely nervous because, for reasons of expediency, they were forced to accept the services of a physician desired by husband or family. No one has a right to dictate in this matter to her who must pass through the ordeal of labor. If the woman prefers the family physician to the obstetrician recommended to her husband by friends, relatives, or neighbors, her wishes should be respected. Or if, on the other hand, she decides in favor of the obstetrician instead of the family doctor, there should be no interference. The faith which casts out fear, that indefinable sense of security which she feels in her chosen physician, supports her through the hours of confinement. During the months of pregnancy the physician thus consulted will follow the changes in his patient and study particularly her nervous condition.