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About the middle of August a circular letter was received
from the Local Government Board calling the attention of the
Hackney Borough Council to the excessive child mortality then
prevalent, and suggesting lines along which action should be
taken with a view to minimising the excess, and stating that,
"The Board will be glad if the Medical Officer of Health, in his
annual report dealing with the current year, will set out the course
of action adopted in the district to prevent diarrhoea and child
mortality generally, in the special circumstances of the present
year."
The following quoted from the circular letter, are the suggestions
of the Board:—
"Firstly, it is important that exact advice should be
given as to the feeding and management of children, and
more generally as to preventing the exposure of their food to
contamination from decomposing organic matter. The distribution
of clearly worded leaflets is useful in this connection,
but even more important are personal visits and the offer of
practical advice to the mothers of babies born within the last
twelve months. Exact and simple instructions are most likely
to be followed if given during a period of special danger. In
districts and towns in which the Notification of Births Act
has been adopted, the records obtained under that Act will
give valuable information in selecting the house to which
visits are now most urgently required."
D