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88
The following is Miss Fitz-Gerald's report from August 13th to
to December 31st:
Visits to houses after notification of births 667.
Revisits 200.
Visits to houses re zymotic enteritis 274.
Revisits 78.
Visits after infant deaths 31.
Visits to houses re phthisis 28.
„ „ „ measles 32.
„ „ „ Depot-fed infants 6.
Special visits 22.
Defects referred to District Inspectors 30.
Miss Fitz-Gerald adds the following observations:—
"In visiting the homes after the notification of births, all the
information obtained relative to the condition, feeding, clothing,
surroundings, parentage, etc., of the infants, is carefully recorded
by means of the card-index. The facts thus recorded should, in
the course of some few years, yield valuable statistical information
relating to the infant-life of the Borough. The card-index having
only been in use during the part of the year under review, there
are no detailed statistics available. It is, however, possible to give
a summary of the observations made in the course of healthvisiting
amongst infants and to indicate some of the chief factors
influencing the infant mortality-rate which are met with day by
day in the course of practical work.
"The causes of infant-mortality (with which are included the
causes prejudicing the health and vigour of the survivors) so far
as they come within the range of the practical preventive work of
the health-visitor may be broadly summarised as ignorance,
apathy, poverty, alcoholism, and wilful neglect. It is difficult to
distinguish between apathy and ignorance. What appears to be
apathy on the mother's part is often at bottom a profound ignorance
of the meaning of symptoms, which tell their tale plainly