View report page

36
3. The baby was dirty and wasting. The mother was a
laundry hand in regular employment. The baby was left in
charge of the eldest child aged 8 years, and was washed by the
mother " the last thing at night."
4. The mother went daily out to work. The baby was placed
in a mail cart, and left in the charge of a child, aged 6 years,
while the mother was away. The child upset the mail cart and
bruised the baby's forehead badly.
5. The baby was the first child, and breast fed. The father
was out of work. The mother was insufficiently fed, and losing
her breast milk. She now proposed to " put the baby on the
bottle," and look for work, as she could not go on much longer
as she was placed,—" no money coming in, and the rent
to pay just the same." However, she was prevented from
seeking work because she had no one to mind the baby during
her absence. She was given tickets for free dinners.
6. The mother was 18 years old, and an artificial flower
maker. The baby was illegitimate and left in the charge of its
aunt daily : it slept in the padded wicker cover of a fruit basket.
7. The baby was 10 weeks old. The mother went out to work
daily as a box-maker. The father was out of work. The baby
was left with the landlady, who fed it on one patent biscuit until
the mother's return.
8. The father was a porter out of work. The baby was one
month old. The mother had resumed her work as a ironer. She
came home daily at mid-day to suckle the baby, who was left for
the rest of the day in the care of its grandmother, 71 years old.
9. The mother resumed her work in the third week after her
confinement. The baby was the eleventh child; only eight now
lived. It was left in charge of a girl 14 years old, very dirty and
careless, who fed the child on cow's milk and barley water from a
very dirty bottle.