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from this cause were found dead in bed, and the death
was undoubtedly due to the ignorant and almost
criminal practice of putting an infant to sleep in the
same bed as its parents. The little creature easily
slips down beneath the bedclothes and soon passes from
sleep to death. Possibly on such an occasion the
parents may have slept heavily and without being
drunk may have had an extra glass of liquor. The
only excuse for this custom is that the infant requires
the warmth of its mother's body but this is not so.
It is quite easy to make up a little bed for the baby
on two chairs; no elaborate cradle is necessary as an
empty orange box is all that is required.
To sum up; there are three main causes of infantile
mortality:—Poverty, Ignorance and Drink, and
the greatest of these is Poverty. Now what are the
remedies for these evils? How shall we deal with
them ? For ignorance there is no excuse, children
at school can and should be taught household
management and the simple rules of health;
properly trained Health Visitors can instruct and
guide mothers who have not had the advantage
of efficient teaching. But what shall we do with
poverty and its resulting misery and drunkenness ?
Healthy infants cannot be reared in unhealthy surroundings,
overcrowded rooms,foul smelling and insanitary,
make the worst possible nurseries ; but if parents are
too poor to provide additional accommodation as
their families increase who is to do it for them ? It is
common knowledge that although the nation as a