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34
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
The infantile mortality rate, which means the numbers of
deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 births, was 78.8.
Last year it was 86.5, and in 1906 it was 114.5
The rate for England and Wales was 121, and 128 for the
76 great towns in 1908.
In accordance with your instructions, I attended the Conference
on this subject, held at Caxton Hall, in March, and the
recommendations arrived at there were as follows:—
1. That this Conference expresses its appreciation of
Parliament having passed the Notification of Births
Act, 1907, and urges upon all Local Authorities the
importance of adopting the Act and appointing
qualified women to carry out its provisions.
2. That in order to combat the prevalent ignorance
resulting in wastage of infant life and injury to the
health of many survivors, the Conference urges upon
the Board of Education, and upon Educational
Authorities generally, the importance of securing to
all girls in every grade of school a satisfactory training
in domestic and personal hygiene and the duties of
womanhood.
3. That the Conference welcomes most gladly the
Children Bill introduced into the House of Commons
by Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., for the amendment of