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27
The Infantile Mortality was higher in the Limehouse District than in any part
of the Borough. This is only what one expects, when it is realised that in the
Limehouse District, there is a larger number of females working in factories, than
in any other part of the Borough. The mothers, soon after their confinement, return
to work, and leave the baby in the custody of one of their other children, which
renders hand-feeding inevitable. Human milk is the best food, and no other milk
can be made into a perfect food for infants. In infant feeding, nature is superior
to art, and the artificial food should approximate as closcly as possible to this
ideal. It is possible, however, that human milk contains substances derived from
the mother, which are carried by the milk into the infant's body, and protect it
from the attacks of disease producing bacteria. It is, at any rate, extremely rare
for infants on the breast to suffer from Measles, Scarlet Fever, or any of the
infectious diseases. Premature weaning and the want of proper attention in the
care of the infants seem to be the main factor in producing the high infantile
mortality in the Limehouse District. Contrast this with the comparatively low
infantile mortality in the Whitechapel District, where the Jewish population is
greater relatively than in any other part of the Borough. The Jewish mother
suckles her baby, and if she assists her husband at all in his employment, it is done
by means of home work.
The disease which one would expect to be more directly caused by the
improper feeding of infants than any other disease is Summer Diarrhoea.
Diarrhoea is less fatal in breast-fed children than in hand-fed children. The deathrate
from Diarrhoea was four times higher in the Limehouse District than in the
Whitechapel District.
Measles is another disease in which neglect is the main factor in its ending
fatally. Very few deaths were due, during 1908, to Measles pev se. The deaths
generally were caused by complications, such as Broncho-Pneumonia, due to
catching cold while suffering from Measles. The death-rate from Measles was
nearly three times higher in the Limehouse District than in the Whitechapel
District. The same remark holds good to a great extent with regard to Whooping
Cough. These facts are worthy of consideration, especially when the number of
cases of notifiable diseases is relatively higher in the Whitechapel District than in
the Limehouse District.
These deaths are to a great extent preventible, and the only practical suggestion
that has been found of any use in this direction, is the appointment of Health
Visitors. The experience of other Metropolitan Boroughs, where Health Visitors
have been appointed, bears this out.