London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Finsbury 1912

Annual report on the public health of Finsbury for the year 1912

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4. The father was a bill poster out of work. The family consisted
of the parents and three children. They occupied a oneroomed
tenement and were being ejected for non-payment of rent.
The eldest girl, eight years, was sent to live with her grandmother
because they had not sufficient food at home. The girl,
four years, was kept at home—" She'll do with a piece of bread
and butter." The baby three weeks was small, thin, wasting and
clad in cotton.
5. The baby was fat and flourishing, but had thrush. Some
neighbours told the mother that crude chimney soot was good for
cleaning the teeth. The mother thought, therefore, that it must
be equally good for cleaning the tongue, and had rubbed soot
roughly and copiously over the child's lips, tongue, and the inside
of its mouth so that the child was bleeding from these surfaces.
6. The child was a first baby and had sore raw buttocks
affected with eczema, which extended up the back of the baby.
The mother changed the napkins very frequently, but washed
them in a strong " magic soap." When this washing with soap
was stopped the eczema disappeared.
7. The baby was very fat, clothed in cotton, and suffered from
bronchitis. It was sitting on the doorstep in the care of a child
seven years old. There was a cold keen wind blowing. The
mother was in a public house.
8. The baby had bronchitis and was clothed in cotton. The
mother did not believe in woollen vests or in '' coddling children."
She was convinced that " the rougher the children are brought up
the better they get on."
9. The family consisted of the parents and four children, of
whom the eldest was three years and the baby three weeks.
They occupied one room for living and sleeping. The children
were all clothed in cotton shirts and had nothing else on. The
mother stated that they " suffered cruel with their chests." The
mother stayed in bed for one day only after her confinement and
then got up to resume her household work.