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42
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PREVENTION OF
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
On the 13th and 14th June, a National Conference on the Prevention of
Infantile Mortality was held at Caxton Hall, Westminster, under the
Presidency of the Rt. Hon. John Burns, M.P., President of the Local.
Government Hoard. At this Conference the following resolutions, which I
have re-classified under their several headings, were passed:—
INFANTILE MORTALITY CONFERENCE.
London, 13th and 14th June, 1906.
Resolutions Passed.
A.—Births.
1.—That notification of all births be given within 48 hours to the Medical
Officer of Health of the district in which they occur.
2.—That, in view of the information submitted, the Conference is of opinion
that all still births should be notified within 48 hours to the Medical Officer of
Health of the district in which they occur, and that no burial should take
place without a medical certificate.
B.—Mothers.
1.—That no employer of labour shall permit a woman advanced in
pregnancy to engage in factory labour unless her ability therefor has been
certified to the satisfaction of the Local Authority.
2.—That the period of one month's abstention from factory work away from
home now imposed upon mothers be extended to at least three months, and
that, on their return to work, evidence must be produced satisfactory to the
Local Authority that proper provision has been made for the care of the child.
C.—Infants.
1.—That, having regard to the ascertained fact that in centres of industries
where women are largely employed away from their homes an excessive number
of deaths of infants take place, and that this is contributed to by the
improper conditions existing at the houses in which infants are placed out to
nurse, it is necessary that the persons by whom, and the places into which,
infants are received, should be under supervision by the Local Sanitary
Authority.
2. —That the Infant Life Protection Act be amended to remedy abuses
which are not at present provided against.
3.—That, in the opinion of this Conference, the question of the insurance of
infant lives under twelve months is one demanding serious consideration, and,
with a view to receiving reliable information, the Government should be asked
to appoint a Departmental Committee of Inquiry on the whole question.
D.—Milk.
1.—That, in the opinion of this Conference, immediate legislation is
required enabling Sanitary Authorities to establish or support depots for the
supply of pure, or modified, or sterilized milk, and to defray any cost out of
the monies available for public health purposes.