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64
which are possibly outside the immediate control of the individual. The other three
important causes of death are, however, all preventable, and in this respect it is
advisable to consider the figures in more detail.
It will be seen from the table opposite page 20 that prematurity exerted its effects
almost wholly under the age of one month, whereas diarrhoea and enteritis and
pneumonia claimed their victims almost entirely after the age of one month and
mainly between the ages of three and nine months. It is, therefore, in the latter
period, which is often in the case of an individual child a period of transition from
breast to artificial feeding, that the risks from these two diseases are highest. A
death from prematurity under one month is difficult to prevent; in fact the preventive
measures which are likely to be successful are probably those which are applied to
the mother before the birth of the child.
Deaths from infectious disease are to some extent in a different category and
they are dealt with in another section of this report. It should further be pointed
out that the general nutrition of the individual child has an important bearing upon
the prognosis so far as a fatal result is concerned, especially in diseases such as measles
and whooping cough. The actual number of deaths from these diseases in any one
month will, however, depend very considerably upon epidemic factors.
Prematurity, as a cause of death, is interesting in that it reflects the condition
not only of the child after birth, but also of its ante-natal life, and, therefore, of the
condition of the mother before birth. The incidence of prematurity is, therefore,
associated not only with infant welfare but also with maternal welfare. It is
interesting to follow the trend of deaths from this condition over a number of years.