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61
Dirty home conditions are often responsible for ill-health among the children.
It is often found, that the unsatisfactory conditions are due to the mother getting
disheartened, and this is not surprising, in view of the continual strain caused by
overwork, and too often, by money difficulties, which many mothers have to endure.
In these cases, much can be done to cheer and encourage the mother.
A baby girl, 9 months old, suffering from Marasmus was taken to the London
Hospital for treatment. The doctor suspected that the condition of the child was
due to dirty conditions, and asked that the case might be looked into. The home was
visited, and the conditions were found to be most unsatisfactory. The woman
was urged to clean the room, and to take better care of the child, and instructions
were given regarding suitable feeding. The home was visited regularly for a period
of three months. During this time, great improvement was noted in the general conditions,
as well as in the health of the child, who was discharged from the Hospital
cured, at the age of a year.
*
Cases in which the babies suffer owing to ignorance and inexperience are of
frequent occurrence.
Inexperience often results in the children being improperly nursed during
illness. When a child is under treatment, it is often found advisable to visit
regularly, in order to help the mother to understand, and to show her, how to carry
out the instructions given.
A baby girl aged three months old was found to be suffering from diarrhoea and
vomiting. The mother had just returned with the baby from seeing the doctor. His
instructions were to give the child nothing but albumen water and cold boiled water
for 24 hours. At the time of visit, the mother was feeding the baby, simply because she
was quite at a loss to know how to proceed. She was shown how to make the albumen
water, and the importance of carrying out the doctor's orders implicitly was impressed
upon her. The case was visited daily until the vomiting and diarrhoea had ceased,
and the child showed definite signs of improvement.
Old Age.
218 deaths were attributable to Old Age. This corresponds to a death rate of
.80 per 1,000 of the population.
58 belonged to the Limehouse District, or at the rate of 1 .11 per 1,000.
32 belonged to St. George-in-the-East, or at the rate of .69 per 1,000.
94 belonged to Mile End Old Town, or at the rate of .86 per 1,000.
34 belonged to the Whitechapel District, or at the rate of .52 per 1,000.