I recall one woman of my acquaintance whose self-consciousness amounted to an affliction. She was super-sensitive, self-effacing, apologetic, always afraid that she was not wanted. One day when speaking of her futile efforts to correct the tendency, she explained that she had been an unwelcome child. Her mother had rebelled throughout the period of pregnancy. She had nursed her child in bitterness of spirit. Later in life she learned to cling to her daughter for companionship as well as material care, but the girl never outgrew those unfortunate prenatal influences. Another girl, sixth in the family, was carried and nursed by her mother through times of financial stress, when one more mouth to fill was a hardship. As soon as the child could toddle, she developed a passion for running away. She grew up absolutely devoid of family instinct, filial affection and womanly sense of responsibility. While very young, she eloped with her first suitor, rather than remain under the parental roof. She was never dishonest or immoral, but she was born hating her home and indifferent to her parents. Still sadder is the case of a mother who gave way to hysteria and hideous paroxysms of anger throughout the period of pregnancy. Though physically sound herself and married to a man without taint, this woman brought into the world a child who never developed mentally beyond her second year. To-day this mother, now a self-supporting widow, never leaves the institute for feeble-minded children, where her daughter is safest and happiest, without the throbbing thought, “Why did no one warn me of what I was doing to my child?” On the other hand, when maternity is accepted as a privilege, and love instead of bitterness reigns in the prospective mother’s heart, the babe is born tranquil, normal, healthy. Returning to the phrase, efficiency in motherhood, it is good business to bear normal children. In this day, the woman who frets, rebels and weeps during pregnancy commands little sympathy and practical help from her husband and family. But there is something fine and inspiring about the woman who firmly, cheerfully demands for herself and the child she is carrying the best that domestic conditions and environment afford. She becomes an heroic figure, fulfilling her highest duty to society, and demanding just toll. Men bow to this attitude when they flee hysterics and turn deaf ears to angry complaints. And no woman should disregard the importance of moral support and sympathy on the part of her husband. To guard her own health and that of the child, the expectant mother must give careful attention to three things: diet, rest, exercise.