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43
to be discontinued owing to the bread-winner of the family
being out of work. It is to be regretted that some provision
in the shape of a fund could not be subscribed to meet cases of
this kind. Frequently it has happened that the child has had
to have its supply withdrawn while it was steadily improving,
owing to the father having fallen out of work.
The great majority of the infants fed from the Milk Depot
were recommended by medical practitioners; a few were introduced
by nurses and midwives; a few by the Lady Sanitary
Inspector of the Borough Council; while in a small number of
instances cases were recommended by hospitals—principally by
the Victoria Children's Hospital, Chelsea.
The majority of the infants belonged to the poorer
classes.
The most important fact connected with the feeding of
these infants was that more than 60 per cent. of the children
admitted were more or less seriously ill at the time of admission—in
some instances even in a dying condition, having
been put on the milk as a last resource. The following is a
list of the diseases or diseased conditions present in many
of these children :—
Wasting Congenital debility
Prematurity Convulsions
Constipation and Whooping Cough
Indigestion Measles
Diarrhœa Starved
Abcesses Gastric Catarrh
Pneumonia Bronchitis
Marasmus Jaundice
Many of the children were, when admitted to the Milk
Depot, so seriously ill that they had to be sent to hospital for
treatment. Improper feeding was in many instances responsible
for their condition. It is surprising what a varied range
the diet list of many of the children took. This embraced
bread, biscuit, tinned milk, various kinds of prepared foods.