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32
attention been exercised in the feeding, rearing, treating, and sleeping
of infants.
It is inevitable that a considerable number of deaths must always
occur among children at this early period of life, and a large proportion
of these deaths can scarcely be said to be due to any illness contracted bv
the infant itself who is born with the condition which leads to its early
death—immaturity and deficient or defective vitality dependant upon
some ante-natal influences, of which excessive alcoholism in one or both
parents is one important factor. Therefore, in considering the efforts of
those concerned with public health administralion in the direction of
effecting a decrease in the infantile death rate, it becomes necessary to
analyze the causes of death under the headings of "Preventable" and
"Non-preventable." Such analysis is interesting from many points of
view, and discloses the fact that 98 out of 133 such deaths which
occurred in Hampstead during the year could not have been prevented
by any steps that a Sanitary Authority might reasonably be expected
to take. The "Preventable" infantile death rate is therefore 25 per
1000 births, or 26 per cent. of the total infantile deaths.
The term "Preventable," as applied to a cause of death, has been
interpreted by me to include: — (a) deaths from diseases, the contraction
of which it is possible to avoid by proper care and due application of
modern scientific knowledge; (b) deaths from diseases in which it is
possible that the efforts of Public Health Authorities can be of avail in
avoiding a fatal termination; (c) deaths which occur through causes
which arc preventable but only by those in immediate contact with the
infant.
During the last seven months special efforts have been made in the
Borough for the preservation of infant life. It would be fallacious to
claim that these efforts have been entirely responsible for the satisfactory
decline in the figures for the year under review, but the fact remains
that the infantile death rate has fallen from 111 per 1,000 births in
1904 to 93 in 1905, and I have every hope that when the statistics for
a number of years are available, they will show that the infantile death
rate from " Preventable " causes has been considerably diminished.
Some idea of the efforts made by the Department in this direction
of infantile mortality can be gathered by reference to the routine
followed upon the notification of each birth, as set out in pages 23 and 24.