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135
Respiratory disease including' pneumonia and broncho-pneumonia
accounted for 28 deaths of children under one year. The question of
diseases of the chest in the young child is one of the most difficult problems
the Maternity and Child Welfare service has to tackle. It is certainly one
of the most urgent and important, not only because these diseases kill many
children, but because they leave a large number weakened for life. As long
as families are crowded together in one or two rooms it is difficult to make
any real progress, as these diseases usually commence with a cold, caught
from an adult or older child. Meantime a strenuous effort is being made to
try to teach the mothers how to raise the child's resistance. So often it is
the over clad, coddled child who is kept in a stuffy room who catches cold.
Much can be done to educate the mothers by individual and group teaching
about fresh air, open windows and general hygiene. Talks and demonstrations
given regularly serve a very useful purpose, and although it is difficult
for some to obtain adequate nourishment, a knowledge of the principles of
dietetics will help many mothers.
Twenty-one infants died from diarrhoea and enteritis during the year.
These diseases used to kill a large number of infants every year, but the
teaching at Welfare Centres has helped to prevent these illnesses as has a
satisfactory supply of wet and dried milk.
Sixteen infants died of measles, many of the cases being complicated
by broncho-pneumonia. Measles is thus a very deadly disease among
infants, and those who recover are very often debilitated for years. Other
infectious diseases accounted for four deaths only.
The infants who do not succumb during their first year of life are strong
and vigorous, surprisingly so when one considers the. home conditions of
many. The health of the toddler however is too often apt to suffer, especially
when the family is large. It is difficult for the mother of a large family to
devote sufficient time and attention to her children between the ages of one
to five and they often suffer from lack of sleep and daily outing and exercise.
These errors in hygiene are almost impossible to correct as in many cases the
living room is also the sleeping room, and open spaces where young
children can play are few.
Many mothers find it difficult to bring their toddlers to the Welfare
Centres at frequent intervals. Regular supervision of children in their
homes by the Health Visitors is thus of the utmost importance. Many of
the clinics have large attendances and sufficiently frequent medical examination
of the toddler is difficult to attain. Special clinics where toddlers could
be seen by appointment and medically inspected at regular intervals would
tend to raise the standard and improve the condition of school entrants. The
toddlers' dinners which were commenced during the year should help many
children and many should derive benefit from the three beds at the
Association of Infant Welfare Centres Convalescent Homes, which it was
hoped to secure at the end of the year.