MEDICAL FILMS

Nursery Sepsis: 16 mm., color, sound, showing time 28 minutes. Produced in 1961 by Churchill Wexler Film Productions, Los Angeles, for the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Hospital Association and American Medical Association, with the cooperation of Johnson and Johnson. Procurable on loan (no service charge) from American Medical Association, Motion Picture Library, 535 N. Dearborn St., Chicago 10. The story of this film is that of a newborn nursery that felt secure in having sepsis under control. Then within a period of 2 months, skin infections began to develop in nursery infants and infants after discharge. This was traced to breast abscesses in mothers. No breaks in nursing practices were found as they related to nursery techniques cleaning, laundry, infant general care, and so forth. Upon culture of a mother's breast abscess, a specific staphylococci was found, and 7 of the nursery staff were found to have positive cultures. . . . Evidence is given that the bacterial colonization of a newborn in a nursery is from 3% on the first day to 47% by the tenth day. This is a superb film on nursery sepsis. By actual photography of nursery procedures and by illustrative drawings, it portrays all of the problems of a newborn nursery and how best to solve them. All the modern techniques that should prevail in a newborn nursery are amply demonstrated. The photography and sound in this film are excellent. The material presented represents the best medical approach to the problems of a newborn nursery, whether small or large.