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number of interesting facts emerge from a consideration of these
reports. It will be appreciated, of course, that in certain cases
Welfare Centre non-attendance could not possibly have had any
bearing upon the cause of death, and one therefore has deleted
from a consideration of this factor all cases of deaths of infants
under the age of one month, as well as deaths due to accidents.,
etc. This reduces the number to 58, and the following figures
are submitted :—
Mothers in regular attendance at Welfare Centre 13
„ irregular „ „ „ 20
Attended Centres with previous children 2
Never attended Welfare Centres at all 23
58
It is gratifying to be able to observe that more than halt
of the mothers of these infants were in attendance either
regularly or irregularly at the Welfare Centres, and it is not
submitted that, had attendances been made by the mothers of
the 23 infants who had not attended, the lives of the infants
would have been saved. On the other hand, it is significant to
notice the type of case where there is a preponderance of nonattendance
at the Welfare Centres, e.g., out of 6 deaths from
Enteritis, no mothers were in regular attendance and two only
attended occasionally. In the Pneumonia group, where there
were 13 deaths, 2 mothers only were in regular attendance, 7
attended irregularly, and the remaining 4 never attended at all.
Convulsions accounted for 4 deaths ; in 2 cases the mothers
had never attended, whilst of the deaths from Debility, etc.,
Nvhich numbered 12, four mothers only were in regular
attendance.
The most remarkable feature in connection with vital
statistics is the drop in the infantile mortality rate during the
past 30 years. In 1901, 150 infants under the age of one year,
died to every thousand born. Ten years later the proportion
had been reduced to 100 per thousand, since which date there
has been a steady drop until the present very low figure of 54
per thousand births has been attained. From the foregoing
remarks, however, it will be appreciated that we have by no
means reached finality yet in regard to the prevention of infantile
mortality, and I am convinced that with the increasing scope of
the Council's Maternity and Child Welfare scheme, and, it is
hoped, the increased and more widespread attendance on the
part of the Greenwich mothers at the Welfare Centres, that in
times to come, one will be able to continue to report the steadily
decreasing infantile mortality rate. It is, of course, impossible