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24
The visitation of births by the Lady Sanitary Inspector was commenced
at the end of May, since when 227 have been visited. Of these :—
28 infants were members of families living in 1 room.
105 „ „ „ 2 rooms.
59 „ „ „ 3 rooms.
35 „ „ „ more than 3 rooms.
The majority of the mothers appeared to care for their babies to the
very best of their ability; such errors as were observed being due in
nearly every case to ignorance and not to wilful neglect. It is noticeable
that in homes where the other children are neglected and dirty, the
baby is often the cleanest member of the family.
The younger women in most cases welcomed the advice given by
the Inspector.
Most of the infants, when visited, appeared to be healthy, but 33
were found to be unwell or weakly.
Of the 227 infants visited, 189 were found to be nursed by the
mother, 26 were hand-fed, 12 were partly hand-fed and partly nursed.
In a number of cases the mother was found to be quite insufficiently
nourished through poverty, the mother's want of food affecting of
course her power to properly nurse her infant. In some cases on a later
visit, the infant was found to be hand fed. This extreme poverty was
found in 31 cases.
Some slight headway seems to have been made in the fight against
the use of the obnoxious long-tubed bottle; in 10 cases, however, it was
found to be in use.
In every case, except where a very recent inspection had been made
the sanitary condition of the premises was inspected; insanitary conditions
were discovered and remedied in 54 instances; and overcrowding
in 6.
The Natural Increase of the population for the year, being the
excess of births over deaths, was 598 as compared with 553 in 1904.
Illegitimate Births.—Out of the total of 1421 births registered, 35
were those of illegitimate children.