View report page

The officers of the Dispensary have, on many occasions, been good enough
to assist the sanitary work of the district, by pointing out unwholesome conditions
that came under notice at the homes of the patients.
Section VII.— On the "Infants' Home," 35, Great Coram Street.
Mention has been repeatedly made of the Infants' Home at 35, Great
Coram Street. It has hitherto been considered only as a disturbing element
of the death-rate. But some more particular statement respecting it must be
made.
In the last quarter of 1864, this house was occupied by a number of
illegitimate infants, 49 of whom were admitted before the end of the year, and
15 of them had died This circumstance of course attracted the special attention
of the Officer of Health, and was reported in the annual statement of 1864.
All the infants admitted into this "Home" are illegitimate, mostly the
children of domestic servants, and their mothers have mostly resided before
their birth in Marylebone or Paddington. The rules of the Home allowed of
their being taken in at all ages, and their mothers were allowed to obtain occupation
for themselves, making a small payment for the maintenance or funeral
of the child left in the Home.
In 1865, besides the 34 children who were in the Home on January 1st,
137 other infants have been admitted, and of the 171 the mortality has been
no less than 97. In the first quarter, there were 40 deaths; in the second,
43 ; in the third, 10; and in the fourth quarter, 4 only. The reason for the
difference between the quarters will presently appear. The causes of death
were as follows:—From tubercular and scrofulous diseases and abscess, 6;
from bronchitis and lung disease, 4; from whooping cough, with and without
other complaints, 8; from sequelæ of vaccination, 2; from diseases presumably
produced by the artificial feeding of children who ought to be at the breast, or
by other kinds of improper feeding, 77; this last number, including "marasmus,"
"ablactation," " thrush," "convulsions," and "diarrhoea."
In view of the frightful mortality among these infants, the Home was
carefully inspected by the Medical Officer of Health, accompanied by the
medical adviser of the Institution, and advice was given respecting the number
that should be allowed in the Home at one time, respecting the feeding,
nursing, and management of the children; and particularly it was urged that
the attendance of its own mother upon each child ought to be secured during
the early months of its life. However well calculated to relieve mothers of the
burthen of their illegitimate offspring, the system was felt to be intolerable which