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THE HEALTH OF BARKING
From the first it was realised in this country that if the infants who needed the
care most were to be helped the service must be brought to the door; so that the
' Lady Inspector' of 1907 becomes the ' Lady Health Visitor' of 1908.
Home visiting is the chief duty of your Health Visitors today and in 1946 they
made 15,904 such visits.
Breast Feeding. Few factors make for a safe and happy infancy more surely
than successful breast feeding. Not only do breast fed infants appear to be markedly
less likely to contract infections but if they do the result is less likely to be serious
than in bottle fed children. Moreover, psychologists believe that during this
period an emotional relationship is built up which may be deeply significant to the
child's future development.
It is for this reason that I particularly welcome the investigations of Dr. G. S.
Wigley, one of your Medical Officers, into this subject. His work is published as
a Supplement to this Report.
Neo-Natal Mortality. I have remarked in an earlier Annual Report that it would
be a great help towards the solution of the riddle of neo-natal mortality (babies dying
within the first month of life) if more post mortem examinations were made. The
fact is that diseases in the first month of life can sometimes be quite impossible to
diagnose in life. If regular post mortems are carried out then we find that many
more deaths are due to infection than we were able to diagnose at the bedside. The
majority of these infants who die from infections are born prematurely. It is,
therefore, necessary to protect newly born children all we can from infection.
The greatest care should be taken to wash thoroughly the hands after changing
babies' napkins and before feeding. Mothers should cuddle little babies of course—
it is good for the baby and the mother—but they should avoid breathing in their
faces and excessive kissing. They should prevent others from doing these things
too.
Although such great strides have been made through the century in reducing
deaths in infancy, this improvement has been most marked in those aged from one to
twelve months. The under one month group (neo-natal group) has not shown the
same improvement.
Prematurity. As you will see on page 52, of 52 who died in 1946, 19 or 37%
were born prematurely. Prematurity is the gravest menace of all to the life of an
infant and. moreover, stillbirths are about ten times as frequent in premature as in
full-time deliveries.
What then are the causes of prematurity—that we may avoid them ? Some are
due to multiple pregnancy, some to toxaemia of the mother, but the bulk are due to
causes unknown. However, we do know that regular and careful ante-natal care
helps to reduce the incidence.
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