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The total number of such deaths was 10 per cent. less than in 1903,
but as the number of births was also less, the proportion of deaths was
slightly higher than in that year, in which the uncorrected and corrected
rates were 122 and 116 respectively. The London rate was 14 points
higher; this was chiefly due to an increase in diarrhoea deaths, but in
the City there was also an increase in deaths from chest diseases and
from accident or negligence. Inquiries have been made into the
circumstances of many of these infantile deaths, and in a good number
of cases improper feeding has contributed largely to the death-rate.
As nearly all the deaths in children are due to causes which are
preventible, it is to be hoped that the steps which will be taken in
in coming years will do much to prevent this waste of infant life.
The provision of addresses where children are born will enable parents
to be visited with a view to giving instructions and advice where these
are required. A leaflet has been prepared by the Westminster Health
Society on the subject, and several of the Registrars have undertaken
to give a copy to parentsvarious maternity societies and similar
departments of hospitals have also agreed to co-operate. Progress will
necessarily be slow, as all educational work is, but there is every
reason to believe it will be successful.
An examination of the particulars ascertained in 103 cases of
infantile deaths shows that there had been 342 births in the same
families, and that nearly half (47'6 per cent.) of the children had died.
In a considerable proportion it appears to be the first baby which has
died, but in some instances, as shown in the second half of the
accompanying table, nearly all the children have died; thus in one