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103
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
the last week feeing- in some places higher than at any time during
the whole quarter. This change continued throughout October,
and it will be noted that the number of deaths from Diarrhoea is
much above the average in the last quarter of the year, this being
due to the increase in the temperature.
During the year the female Sanitary Inspectors have continued
the work begun in 1905, in visiting homes where births
occurred and the following report gives the results of such visits
and a general account of the work carried out :—
"We have the honour of submitting to you a report of
our visits amongst infants during 1907.
"Again we were unable to widen the scope of the work,
and had to limit ourselves, as in 1906, to Tooting, the poorer
parts of Balham, and the Fairfield and Springfield Wards of
Wandsworth. We hoped that it would have been possible to
visit more mothers a second time, but, unfortunately, owing
to illness, fewer re-visits have been made in Balham and
Tooting. It is gratifying to be able to say that our visits
have been even more warmly welcomed than last year;
indeed, many mothers have told us that they were looking
forward to seeing us. We have found in many instances
where we visited a year or two ago that the pamphlets have
been kept for future use, or lent as a valued possession to a
neighbour, or even sent to friends in the country. Sometimes,
too, expectant mothers have been glad of a pamphlet and a
little talk with us. At the same time, we must admit, that in
eight cases the pamphlets have been refused.
"The total number of visits paid after notification of
birth will be found in the first of our Tables, which also
shows the method of feeding at the first visit, and the number
of infants visited who died during the year. Fortunately the
mortality during the year was lower, owing to Epidemic
Diarrhoea having been less prevalent during the summer
months, though Tooting still stands out as a black spot.
There is an increase in the number of ineffectual visits, which
is due in large measure to the necessity of so many women
becoming wage-earners, owing to the distressing lack of
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