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In two cases complaints were received of the dirty condition of the milk
cans and milk when delivered at the houses. These complaints were referred
to the Milk Shop Inspector to be dealt with.
The number of deaths of infants under twelve months registered during the
year was 24. Details of these deaths are given in the Table on page 17.
The following particulars were obtained as regards the feeding of the
infants :—
Seven were breast-fed entirely.
One was fed on the breast and Nestle's Milk.
Nine were having cow's milk either entirely or supplemented by the
breast, Nestle's or other food.
Three infants died within three days of birth.
In four cases satisfactory particulars could not be obtained, the mothers
having either returned to work or removed from the address given.
It should be borne in mind, in considering this question of infant feeding,
that a large number of children die every year from marasmus and debility,
and that the cause of this mortality may frequently be traced to the deficient
quality of the milk secreted by the mother.
When there is poverty in the home, it is the mother and baby who
suffer most, .as the husband and other children must be fed, so the woman
herself goes without.
Further, she is not only often underfed before the baby is born, but also
all the time she is suckling it, consequently her milk becomes poor and
unsatisfying, the infant fails to thrive, and gradually dies from malnutrition
for lack of nature's food.
In such cases, if only help in the way of providing good milk and other
nourishment could be extended to the mother both before and after confinement,
it would often be the means of ensuring greater health and strength for
these little ones, and in many cases saving the life of a child.
NOTIFICATION OF BIRTHS ACT, 1907.
On the 23rd April, 1907, an Act, known as the Notification of Births Act,
1907, was brought in by Lord Robert Cecil, and received the Royal Assent
on the 28th August, 1907.
The object of this Act is to ensure early notification of births to the
Medical Officer of Health, so that advice may be given to the mother in
regard to the rearing and nurture of the child.
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The Act may be adopted by any Local Authority in the United Kingdom.