London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Metropolitan Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
89 [1910
Again, the returns show that among the infants aged between 3 and 6
months, only 11.8 were breastfed, whereas 88.2 were fed otherwise; and in
their case 58.8 per cent, of the mothers were in good health, and 41.2 per
cent, in moderate or bad health, while 56.9 per cent, were unemployed, and
58.8 employed.
In the next threemonthly period (69) only 6.3 per cent, of the infants
were breastfed, while 93.7 per cent, were fed otherwise. Of their mothers
66.7 were not in employment, and 33.3 were, while 72.9 were in good health
and only 27.1 per cent, in moderate or bad.
Lastly, in the fourth threemonthly period (912) 13.3 per cent, of the infants were fed at the breast and 86.7 per cent, otherwise, and of their mothers 73.3 per cent, were in good health; and 26.7 per cent, in moderate or bad, while 40 per cent, were not employed, and 60 per cent, were employed
| Trimonthly periods. | How fed. | Health of mother. | Employed. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast. | Otherwise. | Good. | Moderate or Bad. | Yes. | No. | |
| 0-3 | 21.2 | 788 | 72.7 | 27.3 | 18.2 | 81.8 |
| 3-6 | 11.8 | 88.2 | 58.8 | 41.2 | 56.9 | 58.8 |
| 6-9 | 6.3 | 93.7 | 72.9 | 27.1 | 33.3 | 66.7 |
| 9-12 | 13.3 | 86.7 | 73.3 | 26.7 | 60.0 | 40.0 |
| 0-12 | 12.3 | 87.7 | 68.5 | 31.5 | 37.7 | 62.3 |
Now nearly, if not all, these mothers received instructions by post as soon
as their infants were born as to the best methods of feeding their offspring,
in which they were strongly advised to feed them on the breast alone,
and yet we find that 87.7 per cent, of the cases inquired into were
not so fed. The fact is, and it cannot be blinked, that in the words of the
great Lord Derby, " Sanitary instruction is even more important than
sanitary legislation." Instruction is everything. What do these women—so
many of them a lasting monument to the failure of the public elementary
schools to turn out girls with a knowledge that may be of assistance to them