London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Poplar 1909

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Poplar, Metropolitan Borough]

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255
attention necessary for the well-being of the little ones when they are
born, or to bear healthy children, when she is continually either suckling
or carrying (sometimes carrying on both functions together) in addition to
acting as general charwoman and nursemaid, and, in some cases, as breadwinner
also to the family. That we cannot have quantity and quality is a
fact very forcibly impressed on our mind every day.
I have taken "infectious diseases" in the grouping of "causes of
death" to mean notifiable infectious diseases, not including measles. I
was not able in my Annual Report to make any comparisons of the
mortality between the infants of working and non-working mothers, but
have taken the opportunity to do so now. The result was so startling
that I have prepared another Table for the purpose of comparison, which
shows that the result in the present case is largely accidental.

Table I.

Comparison of rates of mortality between infants of working and non-working mothers in the cases under supervision for the purpose of the Home Office Inquiry.

Rate of mortality16.6 per cent.
,, amongst infants of non-working mothers21.4 „
,, „ „ home workers11.1 „
,, ,, ,, factory workers0.0 „
,, ,, „ charwomen, etc.20.0 „

Table II.
Comparison of rates of mortality between infants of working and nonworking
mothers (as above) which were born previous to those
forming the subject of the present inquiry.