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48
The comparative immunity of children under 1 month is explained
by the fact that in this district the mothers usually suckle the
children for about 4 or 6 weeks, and an overwhelming majority of
the cases of infantile diarrhoea occur in artificially fed children. All
authorities are agreed as to the enormous advantages which infants
who have been fed on their mother's milk possess over those who depend
on an artificial nourishment. No food, however scientifically prepared
and carefully administered, can efficiently take the place of the
child's natural sustenance.
Nothing replaces human milk in its nutritious qualities for the
infant. Most artificial foods are but poor substances for the natural
food, unless prepared with the utmost care. The artificial foods, inj
a large number of instances, set up digestive disturbances, which
render the infant liable to attacks from the bacteria that happen
to be present in the food. Not only is the artificially-fed infant more
susceptible to attack, but the risk of infection is greater. Breast
milk is comparatively sterile, and it passes direct from the mother to
the child, without any intermediate state of transit during which infection
may take place. But with artificial feeding infection may
lurk in the milk, in the vessels in which it is carried, and in the bottle.
Of 75 deaths from Diarrhœal diseases into which inquiries were
made, 72 were artificially fed. and only one wholly breast fed, one
family had left, and in one the information was refused.
It is impossible to give statistics as to the percentage of breastfed
to artificially-fed children in the district. It was stated above
that a large number is suckled for 4 or 6 weeks, sometimes for a
longer period. The numbers given when birth inquiries are made
would, therefore, be entirely unreliable.
An attempt was made during the year to ascertain the proportion
of children amongst the artisan class brought up entirely on the
breast for a period of six months after birth, but the obstacles were
so great that the work was abandoned.
In this district where a large number of married women are employed
in the laundry industry the percentage of breast fed children
is small.