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49
[1909
Some local authorities have felt a responsibility in this direction and
they have provided not only Health Visitors, who from time to time call on
mothers and instruct them how to rear their children, but also have provided
means whereby they can obtain a pure supply of milk. It is not proposed to
advocate milk depots here, because the Medical Officer of Health is of opinion
that a pure milk supply can be more cheaply provided by commercial firms
under the inspection and certification of sanitary authorities than by the
sanitary authorities themselves. Nevertheless, where these milk depots have
been availed of by the people, there has been a very great reduction in the
mortality among the infants using the milk from them. In a recent report of
Dr. J. Priestly on the Infants' Milk Depot in Lambeth, he says, "taking the
whole of the children fed upon the milk and the total number of deaths
amongst them whilst so fed, the mortality rate is 69.5 per 1,000 as compared
with quinquennial rates of 134 per 1,000 for the whole of the Borough, and
187 and 272 per 1,000 for Marsh and Bishop's Wards respectively. To be
statistically correct, only those infants and children should be included who
have been fed upon the milk for continuous consecutive periods. Thus taking
those fed upon the milk for definite consecutive periods of 20 weeks and over
the mortality rate is reduced to 22.7 per 1,000 and if we take those infants and
children who have been fed upon the milk for four weeks or over, the mortality
rate is 51.2 per 1,000. In short, the longer an infant or child is fed upon depot
milk, the better its apparent chance of living. The saving of life has of course
been accompanied by a corresponding saving of illness amongst the infants
and children fed upon the milk whilst so fed." And this point cannot be too
strongly insisted on, because it must be recollected that for every death there
are at the very least 10 cases of sickness, and you cannot have sickness and
death without a very large expense to the parents or to the Poor Law Guardians,
which means the ratepayers or such other authority as renders public aid
free of charge.
But in order to get people to understand the benefits that will arise from
a pure milk supply and from good nursing, it is necessary to have Health Visitors
who would instruct the people, for without them it is universally acceded that
nothing can be done. Here in Islington we issue a pamphlet of advice to
mothers, which is sent to each one as soon as a birth is notified, but it is
doubtful if it has much effect. Among those matters with which it deals is
feeding and it strongly recommends that if infants are not fed on the breast
they should be fed from a boat bottle, that is from a bottle without a tube.
Let us see how far this instruction has been carried out.
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