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1918
15
Last year the disease was not a notifiable one, but it is
known that 5 cases occurred in this district, of which 1 was
fatal.
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
7(5 deaths occurred amongst infants under 12 months of
age. ThiS( figure corresponds to an infantile mortality of 79
per 1,000 births. For 1917 there were 94 deaths and the
infantile mortality was 96 per 1,000 births. On two previous
occasions there has been a lower infantile mortality—in 1912
and 1916.
The chief decrease was in deaths from Diarrhceal diseases.
An examination of the Infantile Mortality Table will
show that three-fourths of the deaths occurred from Respiratory
diseases, Diarrhceal diseases and Developmental diseases. 252
of the babies born in 1918 attended the welfare centres, and
of these 8 died, or a mortality of 32 per 1,000. It would not
be fair, of course, to compare this figure with the infant
mortality figure of the whole district. Only 80 or less than
one-third of the babies attended the centre before they reached
the age of one month. If we eliminate the deathfe of babies
under one month the infantile mortality for the whole district
was 51 per 1,000 births. If we eliminate the deaths under
one month and take the babies who attended the centres and
those who did not separately, the figures were 32 per 1,000
and 59 per 1,000, respectively.
There are many other factors that should be taken into
consideration when trying to estimate the value and the results
of the work of the centres. The babies are drawn from
districts which have shown a consistently high infantile
mortality. On the other hand the mothers who bring their
babies regularly to the centre are those who take an intelligent
interest in their children, and this fact would counteract some
of the deleterious conditions under which they live. Taking
the figures of the district as a whole and comparing them with
those of 20 years ago, the value of health visiting becomes at
once apparent, and the results achieved have been immense.
Your obedient servant,
D. J. THOMAS.