London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Kensington 1909

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health 1909

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Table: The effect of want of breast milk and the artificial feeding which it entails is shown in the following table:—

The effect of want of breast milk and the artificial feeding which it entails is shown in the following table:—

Method of Feeding,Infants visited at Age 3 to 4 months.Infants who died before the age of 6 months.
Breast alone, Number Fed on27654
Artifically Fed, Number10743
Breast alone, Percentage Fed on7256
Artifically Fed, Percentage2844

Table: The figures show that the percentage of artificially fed children among those who died before the age of six months was very much higher than in the infant population at large at the same ages. In the following table the infants visited and the infants who died are classified according to the number of the rooms in the tenements occupied by their parents.

The figures show that the percentage of artificially fed children among those who died before the age of six months was very much higher than in the infant population at large at the same ages. In the following table the infants visited and the infants who died are classified according to the number of the rooms in the tenements occupied by their parents.

Number of Rooms in Tenement,l234 or more.
Infants Visited, Number ...1332819736
Infants who died, Number3668168
Infants Visited, Percentage2451187
Infants who died, Percentage2853127

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Contrary to what might have been expected, the percentage of children in one-room tenements
among those who died only exceeds the percentage among the infant population at large by a very
small figure. The explanation probably lies in the fact that many of the babies born in the
one-room tenements are first babies with a better chance of surviving than the children of parents
whose circumstances are straitened by the necessity of paying rent for a second room and providing
food for a large family out of slender earnings.

Table: The chief diseases registered as the cause of deaths in infants were as follows:—

The chief diseases registered as the cause of deaths in infants were as follows:—

Disease.Number of deaths.
Common infectious diseases33
Diarrhoea (including enteritis, etc.)46
Premature birth69
Congenital defects16
Wasting diseases57
Tuberculous diseases20
Syphilis16
Bronchitis and pneumonia62
Overlaying10
Other causes50
379