Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

May is a month to celebrate the brilliant mothers and maternal figures in our lives! Have you shown your appreciation this Mother’s Day? This balance scale, once housed in Wetaskiwin’s former hospital and now a fixture in the Heritage Museum’s hospital exhibit, was used to weigh babies. A creation of Continental Scale Works, this scale features a support stand which stabilizes a small, stainless steel weigh carrier where infants would be placed and have their weight measurements taken down. The practice of accurate baby weighing can be traced to mid-to-late eighteenth century, as health professionals expressed interest in quantifying the dimensions of the newborn infant. The information was valuable in addressing intellectual curiosity, understanding the growth and development of children, and researching the outside factors influencing health. A summary measure of health enabled a means of determining and ensuring normality. The practice of surveillance became embedded within infancy clinics. By doing so, health professionals could take strides to provide mothers and their children with the best possible care! If you haven’t already shown love and appreciation to the wonderful women in your life who embody motherhood and maternal bonds, we encourage you to give them a call!