The new-born baby; a manual for the use of mid-wives and maternity nurses / by Eric Pritchard ; with 9 illustrations.

  • Pritchard, Eric, 1864-1943
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The new-born baby; a manual for the use of mid-wives and maternity nurses / by Eric Pritchard ; with 9 illustrations. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    repeated we reduce the act of respiration to automa¬ tism, and induce, it is to be hoped, good habits of breathing. On the other hand, if we allow a baby to breathe through the mouth wTe connive at the establish¬ ment of a bad habit. With this preamble, I will now give in detail some account of the education of some of the more important organic systems, beginning with the heat-regulating mechanisms. THE EDUCATION OF THE HEAT-REGULATING CENTRES We all depend very largely for our comfort and health on the efficient control of our blood temperatures by the heat-regulating nerve centres. When we describe an individual as “ hardy,” or speak about methods of hardening, what we really mean is that the person referred to has well-trained heat-regulating centres, or that the system of training has reference to the education of these same centres. These nerve centres are situated in the medulla and base of the brain, and they are concerned with the maintenance of normal blood temperature by means of two distinct sets of mechanisms. The first one is connected with the production of heat and, as circumstances require, it can bring about a very rapid combustion or oxidation of fuel in the body with an increased generation of heat, or it can slow down internal combustion and restrict heat production. The second mechanism is concerned with the dissipation of heat, and this process is accomplished by bringing the heated blood to the surface of the body, where it can be cooled down by being brought into contact with the atmospheric air,