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121
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
Out of 3,772 infants, 3,106 or 82.3 per cent. were wholly breastfed,
and 666 or 17.7 per cent. otherwise fed. There is a slight
increase in the number breast-fed compared with previous years.
2,030 infants were re-visited, and of these 1,360 or 67 per cent.
were breast-fed, while 670 or 33 per cent. were otherwise fed, which
is also a slight increase compared with previous years.
The total number of deaths among those visited was 114, 22
in Clapham, four in Putney, 17 in Streatham, 20 in Tooting, and
51 in Wandsworth. Table LX. shows these deaths arranged
in monthly age periods. The heaviest mortality occurred at two
to three months, while no deaths occurred at 11 to 12 months.
The increase in the deaths was largely due to the increase in
the number of deaths from Diarrhoea and Enteritis.
It is a most significant fact that the number of deaths from
Diarrhoea and Enteritis among 3,106 infants who were breastfed
was only 15, or a percentage mortality of .48, while among
666 infants who were otherwise fed the number of deaths was 117
or a percentage mortality of 17.5. The mortality among infants
otherwise fed was thus 36 times greater than those breast-fed.
The mortality among the infants visited by the Inspectors
was only 30 per 1,000 births, compared with 88 per 1,000, the rate
for the Borough for the year.