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APPENDIX II.
Report by North Kensington Medical Practitioners on the
Infantile Mortality Rate in Kensington.
As a result of discussion at a meeting of the North Kensington Medical Society in October, 1929, an Infantile
Mortality Committee was formed to investigate the statistics of deaths of infants under one year in Kensington
during 1928.
The Committee wish to thank Dr. Fenton, the Medical Officer of Health, for giving them facilities for carrying
out this investigation. On his suggestion the preliminary enquiries were carried out at the Town Hall, with
the help of the Health Visitors, who knew the particulars of the cases. This was found to be of the greatest
asistance in supplying the data necessary to form any opinion regarding the cause of illness and death in these
infants.
In each case an attempt was made to classify the various environmental factors such as "Housing,"
"Income," etc., as "Good," "Fair," or "Bad," these being indicated by the letters "A," "B," and "C"
respectively.
In the case of "Maternal Employment, Ante-Natal" a case was classed as "A" where the mother did no
work during her pregnancy, as "B" when she was employed until she was six months pregnant, and "C"
where she was employed during the last three months of pregnancy. In "Maternal Employment—Post Natal,"
"A" indicates a mother who did not go back to work during the first nine months of the baby's life; "B" a
mother who resumed work when the baby was six months old, and "C" a mother who went back to work before
the baby was six months old.
Classifications under "Feeding" are: "A", entirely breast-fed; "B", partly breast and partly artificially
fed, or satisfactory artificial feeding; "C," unsatisfactory feeding.
Under "Size of Family," "A" is 1-3 children; " B" 4-6 children, and "C," 7 or more children.
From the collected data (Table I.), the Committee have attempted to come to some conclusions as to the
causes of death, as is shown in the body of the Report.
Where it has been necessary to confirm or modify the purely statistical findings as a result of clinical experience
the Committee have indicated this fact.
Table I shows the results obtained by collecting the particulars under the various headings, and represents
the gross figures of infant deaths in 1928.

It will be seen that in 74 out of 189 cases (nearly 40 per cent.), the family income is " C," i.e., unsatisfactory.
It is important, therefore, to try to estimate how far poverty and the unsuitable conditions associated with it
can be held responsible for infant mortality, and an attempt has been made to do this in Table II. For purposes
of comparison the number of " C " entries in any case or group of cases has been taken as an index of bad environment.
As might be expected, environment is shown to get worse as the family income gets less.