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Metropolitan Borough of Deptford.
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
New Cross Road, S E. 14.
July, 1924.
To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Deptford.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you my Annual Report for the
year 1923.
Some excellent results have to be recorded. The accompanying
chart gives a review at a glance of the fall in the infant mortality rate;
any industrial borough which has a rate of 59 per 1,000 born can
afford to be pleased.
The influence of the six infant welfare centres in helping to save
infant life can be discerned by noting the following :—There were 2,428
births in the Borough in the year under report, and 143 infants died
before reaching their first birthday. Two thousand six hundred and
twenty-one different infants under five years of age attended the centres.
Of the 143 infants who died, only 28 deaths occurred amongst infants
who had attended the centres. Certain corrections must be made
before drawing deductions; for example : 39 of the 143 deaths occurred
before the infants had lived 14 days, and another 14 infants died
between the 14th and 28th days of life. Obviously this number, 53,
dying before the completion of the first month of life, must be ignored
for our purposes, inasmuch as infants as a general rule are not expected
to be brought to the centres until they are one month old. This then
leaves a balance of 62 infant deaths occurring amongst the comparatively
small number of babies who are not brought to the centres as
against only 28 deaths occurring amongst the great majority which are
so brought.
By all means make further allowances and say that presumably
some of the 62 were delicate and so forth, and could not be brought to
the centres. I have my doubts. In any case, these latter were visited
at their homes by the Health Visitors.
We must deduce that the medical infant consultations at our
infant welfare centres, the lecturettes, the weighing, the stimulus of
friendly rivalry between the mothers, etc., etc., are of prime value.