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11
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
PREVENTION OF INFANTILE MORTALITY.
(1) Care and Feeding of Infants.
In previous Annual Reports I have given details respecting visits and
inquiries made by the Lady Sanitary Inspector with a view to improving the
health of infants and diminishing the infantile mortality in the Borough.
During the year 451 first visits were made. In 7 cases for various reasons
enquiries could not be carried out. In the remaining 444 cases, 2 were stillborn,
5 children did not live long enough to take any food, 37 were being artificially
fed, and 400 were being breast fed at the time of the first visit, about a fortnight
after birth. A large number of revisits were made, particularly in the cases
of children who were not breast fed, and especially those who were feeding on
modified milk.
(2) Notification of Births Act, 1907.
The total number of births notified in the Borough during the registration
year 1915, was as follows:—
Notified once only
(a) By Doctors or Medical Students 309
(b) „ Midwives 211
(c) „ Parents and others 11
Notified twice
(a) By Doctors and Parents 3
(b) „ „ „ Midwives 2
(c) „ Midwife and Parent 1
Total 537
During the same period 594 births were registered in the Borough; the
corrected number of births of residents was 670.
(3) Modified Milk for Infants.
In my Annual Report for 1906 I gave a detailed report respecting this
matter and the arrangements made with the Express Dairy Company, who have
various depots in and near the Borough to supply modified milk for infants of the
working classes at the reduced rate of 4d. per day on production of a certificate
b 2