View report page

15
It is undoubtedly desirable that there should be a much earlier notification
of births, and legislation should be prompted to provide that births should be
registered within 48 hours of occurrence, or, at most, within five days as is
required in case of death.
Modified Milk for Infants.
The proper feeding of infants, who cannot be breast fed, is a most important
problem. In order to reduce the large amount of preventable illness, and the
enormous sacrifice in infant life due to improper feeding, modified milk has been
provided in a great many towns in European countries, and in America. In
England various milk depots have been established; those in London being
Battersea, Fulham, Lambeth, and Woolwich.
As a supply of modified milk by this method in Holborn would be very
costly, I endeavoured to arrange with the Express Dairy Company, Ltd., who
have various depots in and near the Borough, to supply modified milk for infants
of the working classes, for about the same charges as at municipal milk depots.
After much consideration, the Company agreed to supply it at the reduced rate
of 4d. (instead of 6d.) per day, per infant, on the production of a certificate to be
obtained from the Medical Officer of Health. This prepared milk is supplied as
at municipal milk depots, in bottles, in a basket; each bottle contains sufficient
milk for one meal, the number of bottles and the modification of the milk varying
with the age of the child. The milk is thus kept clean and free from infection
or contamination.
The Council agreed to this on the 19th May, 1906.
As instructed, a leaflet was printed and circulated in suitable cases, advising
the use of prepared milk for infants who cannot be breast fed, and giving
information as to the facilities offered for obtaining such milk at a low price.
During the remainder of the year only 13 certificates were asked for, and of
these only seven were used. Of the seven children who took the milk one had
only a day's supply as the child was very ill when the use of the milk was begun,
and was taken back to the hospital the following day, dying also on that day.
In another case the milk was supplied for only one week, as the child was
removed from the Borough at the end of that period.
In the third case the child was very ill at the time the use of the milk was
begun, and its use was discontinued because the child again went into hospital
where it afterwards died.
The remaining four children took the milk for seven months and progressed
very satisfactorily.
During the first two months of the present year (1907) 19 certificates have
been issued, and the milk has been used in 15 cases.