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mother's general health improves during pregnancy when she has this
milk, and she can suckle her baby much more satisfactorily afterwards.
As it is a well known fact that breast-fed babies are more liable to
survive the first year of life than bottle-fed babies, it will be readily
appreciated that this increased capacity of the mothers of Hampstead
to breast-feed their babies for the first nine months of life is resulting
in a considerable lowering of our local infantile mortality rate.
Before the Milk (Mothers' and Children's) Order was passed in
1918, one had terrible up-hill work in Infant Welfare Clinics. One
was always "up against" malnutrition on the part of the mother in
endeavouring to get breast feeding carried out through the first nine
months of an infant's life. Now, the work in these Maternity and
Child Welfare Clinics is a completely different and more hopeful affair,
as one can get the mother into a much better physical condition than
formerly.
I earnestly hope that no schemes of false economy will be allowed
to interfere with these excellent schemes of the Ministry of Health for
the mothers' and babies' physical health.
(Signed) Mary Kidd,
M.B. (Lond.)
March 11th, 1921.
The following information concerning the diseases:— Puerperal
Fever, Ophthalmia Neonatorum, Measles, Whooping Cough, Diarrhoea
and Enteritis, and Polio-myelitis is asked for by the Ministry of Health
in their Memorandum of February, 1921.
Puerperal Fever.
One case of puerperal fever was notified in 1920. The patient was
removed to hospital, but the case proved fatal.
One other death of a Hampstead resident occurred outside the
Borough. The occurrence of the case was notified to the Medical Officer
of Health of the district concerned.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
Nine cases were notified: of these one occurred in a hospital in
another district; and of the remaining eight the services of the nurses
of the District Nursing Associations were utilised in five cases, while
two patients were removed to hospital. In the other case a medical
practitioner had the case undcr treatment.