Bed pads made of newspapers offer excellent protection and are, of course, less expensive than those made of cotton. They consist of six or eight thicknesses of newspaper opened out to the full size of the page and covered with a piece of freshly laundered muslin which is folded over the edges and basted in place or held with safety-pins, as shown in Fig. 17. These pads may be made virtually sterile by ironing them on the muslin side with a very hot iron, folding the ironed surface inside without touching it, ironing the outside after it is folded and wrapping the pads in a clean sheet or muslin, also recently ironed, and putting them away with the other dressings, in a place protected from dust. [Illustration: FIG. 17.—Reverse side of pad made of newspapers and old muslin to protect bed during a home confinement. If muslin is held in place with safety-pins it may be removed easily, washed and used for another pad. (By courtesy of the Maternity Centre Association.) ] =Baby Clothes.= In planning the baby clothes, there are a few general principles to bear in mind that are of considerable importance to the baby’s welfare. His health actually may be injured by having his clothes too warm or not warm enough, and also if they are tight enough to bind or constrict any part of his body or so ample as to form bunches and wrinkles which will make him uncomfortable and restless. To be entirely satisfactory his clothes should be simple in design and so made as to slip on easily, fit loosely and at the same time smoothly; the materials should be soft, light and porous. Complete outfits of baby clothes may be bought outright, but few expectant mothers are willing to forego the sheer ecstasy of fashioning the little garments themselves, while they dream dreams of the baby who is to wear them. The following list of garments will meet the baby’s needs, and those which you may make are really very simple: Two to four dozen diapers, about 18 inches square. Three flannel bands 6 inches wide and 27 inches long, unhemmed. Three knitted bands with shoulder straps. Three shirts, infants’, size 2, of cotton and wool, silk and wool but not all wool. Four wool and cotton flannel petticoats. Four wool and cotton flannel nightgowns. Six thin white cotton slips, or dresses. Flannel wrapper or a yard square of flannel for extra wrap in cool room. Cloak and cap or other wrap for out door use in cool weather. Let us take these up in turn. The =diapers= may be of any soft, absorbent, loosely woven material, such as cheesecloth, stockinette, bird’s-eye, cotton flannel or thin Turkish toweling, single or double thickness, according to the weight of the material used, and about 18 inches square when hemmed. The first =bands= are of cotton and wool flannel, torn-straight across the width of the material in 6–inch strips and left unhemmed. After the cord separates, this band is usually replaced by a knitted band with shoulder straps.