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most dangerous to life, and, if an impression can be made on such
age.period in the way of reducing mortality (and, correspondingly,
morbidity), it naturally follows that the immediately succeeding age.
period, viz, 1 to 5 years, should be affected proportionately, this
latter age period (1 to 5 years) being in no sense so dangerous to life
as the former age.period (under 1 year of age).
Taken over a stretch of years—and the wider the stretch of years
the better—the figures are, as already stated, extraordinary, if not
incredible.
It used to be customary to regard an infantile mortality rate of
100 deaths (corrected) per 1,000 registered births (uncorrected) as the
ideal to work up to, or down to, and experts used to make an
ex cathedra statement to the effect that any lower figure could not be
reasonably expected on account of the necessity for allowing a fixed
and definite margin for infants that are born to die within 12 months
of births from prematurity and marasmus, and such.like classified
diseases (inherited, or constitutional and otherwise), from which that
particular age.period (infants under one year) is liable to suffer, and to
which the infants concerned succumb in very large numbers—or used
to succumb in past years, not only in Lambeth Borough and Parish,
but in other Metropolitan and Provincial cities and Boroughs. Few
districts (if any) can show greater decreases than Lambeth Borough at
the present day.
These results (remarkable results) have only been obtained
through the activities of the Borough Council in connection with
maternity and child welfare work during the 25 years of the present
Borough.s existence. Mention must be made of the help
given by the many various Voluntary Welfare Centres that have
now been amalgamated, and are comprised officially within the
Lambeth Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme. Constant and
unremitting energy has had to be displayed by the official and voluntary
workers throughout the Borough, the latter (voluntary workers) having
now been finally amalgamated practically as officers of the Borough
Council under the provisions of the Lambeth Scheme, which was
officially inaugurated as a scheme in 1918 under the powers of the
Maternity and Child Welfare Act, 1918, although similar work had
been carried out previously voluntarily. The healthy growth of the
work has been secured by the fertilising benefits of the
Borough Council.s monetary annual grants.in.aid, supplementing the
grants of the Ministry of Health and the late Local Government Board
and the Board of Education.
The net saving infantile and child mortality (and morbidity) has
been enormous within the Borough of Lambeth during the last 25
years, and can be approximately stated as a total saving of 11,275
lives amongst infantile and child life, of which 8,150 may be classified
as infants under one year of age. May the good work long continue