London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, London, Borough of]
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39
Then followed a series of paragraphs upon pre.natal conditions, post.natal
conditions, and the outlines of a preventive scheme were sketched.
In February, 1905, I further reported to this effect: —
In the previous Report it was indicated that efforts to reduce infantile
mortality have hitherto been mainly directed towards improving the artificial
food and feeding of infants of suckling age, thus encouraging mothers to
wean their sucklings at an increasingly earlier age ; that hitherto 110 systematic
effort appears to have been made to improve the health of suckling mothers
in order to provide through them the best form of nourishment for their
young infants, and delay weaning until the infants are more capable of
separate existence; that little or 110 general attention has been directed
towards improving the health of pregnant mothers so as to prepare them for
suckling their infants when born, and for endowing them before birth with
more viable constitutions.
It was shown that mortality statistics in St. Pancras indicate that infants
are dying at a younger and younger age, apparently due to increased immaturity
at birth, diminished viability or capacity for survival, and increased
artificial feeding.
Dr. Tatham, at Somerset House, kindly called my attention to the fact that figures are available for London since 1888 in the Registrar.General's Returns, showing the number of deaths of infants under one year in the first and second three months, and the last six months of the year. From these numbers the mortality per 1000 births is calculated in the following table:—
| LONDON. | Infantile Mortality per 1000 1 tirths. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months. | |||||
| 0—3 | 3—6 | 0—6 | 6—12 | 0—12 | |
| 1888 to 1892 | 69.1 | 31.6 | 100.7 | 50.7 | 151.4 |
| 1893 to 1897 | 73.5 | 33.8 | 107.4 | 51.3 | 158.7 |
| 1898 to 1901 | 74.5 | 34.9 | 109.4 | 51.6 | 161.0 |
These figures tell a similar story for London as was told for St. Pancras.
The total infantile mortality has risen, but the rise has been much greater in
the first six months of the twelve than in the last.