View report page

98
account of the expense, and 14 were refused milk for non-payment.
The Health Committee decided last year that the rule
as to prepayment for the milk must be strictly enforced; in
consequence, a number of mothers who were unable to produce
ready money, were refused the milk.
Age of Infants Fed. The average age of the children taken
on at the Depot in 1908 was three months. The average
duration of feeding was five months, thus the average age of
those fed was five-and-a-half months.
Health of Infants coming on Depot. Of the 217 infants who
commenced Depot milk in 1909, 82, or two-fifths of the whole,
were unwell at the time of commencing—18 suffered from
indigestion, 41 were wasting or delicate, 6 had diarrhoea, 7
were premature infants, 1 had tuberculosis, and 9 other
diseases. The large proportion of delicate infants should be
particularly noticed, and indicates that the Depot is as much
used for curative as for preventive purposes. Only the more
enlightened parents seek the Depot milk as long as their infant
appears to flourish. Many only come to the Depot when the
baby's health fails.
The following sample cases of delicate and premature infants,
successfully reared on Depot milk, show the great importance
of the Depot in saving the lives and restoring the health of
children who would otherwise probably have succumbed:—
64a. H.D. (m.) Premature, very feeble at birth, under
5 lbs. Started Depot milk when 3 months old: was
then very delicate, and there was digestive trouble
necessitating special modifications until 7 months old.
Gain in weight was satisfactory from the time he began
Depot milk. Weighed 19 lbs. at 1 year old.