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43
DISTRIBUTION OF INFANT DEATHS.
In 1909, the largest number of deaths occurred in Lever Street
(9), St. Bartholomew's Buildings (9), Penton Street (8), Hatfield
Street (7), Margaret Street (7), St. Helena Street (7), Bastwick
Street (6), Cumming Street (6), Cyrus Street (6), Northampton
Buildings (6), King's Cross Road (6), Peerless Street (6), Southampton
Street (6), Galway Street (5), Guinness's Buildings (5),
Northampton Street (5), Radnor Street (5), Risinghill Street (5),
and Warren Street 5 deaths.
It is contrary to expectation to find so many infant deaths in
the "Buildings"; in the other localities the residents are some of
the poorest in the district.
Infant Deaths, 1904-1909.— The numbers investigated for
any one year are small, and great caution is necessary in making
accurate deductions from them.
During the six years 1904-1909, altogether 1,825 deaths have
been made the subject of enquiry, and the following deductions
in the main, hold good :—
1.—One-third of the children are wholly breast fed—the
rest are totally or partially fed by artificial methods.
2.—Amongst the children dying of diarrhoea, one-seventh
only were totally breast fed—the large bulk, 75 per cent.,
were fed artificially.
3.—Of the children dead of marasmus and wasting conditions,
only 25 percent, were wholly breast fed, whereas
57 per cent, were artifically fed.
4.—The majority of the children who died from suffocation
in bed—71 per cent., nearly three-quarters of the whole
number, were entirely breast fed.
5.—Most of the deaths occurred in the homes of persons
occupying one or at most two-roomed tenements.