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139
say, more deaths of infants occur in the nine months of
ante-natal life than the total English losses from the War
up to date.
One effect of the War will be a diminution of the birthrate
to an extent which cannot at present be estimated.
It becomes increasingly necessary therefore to preserve all
the nation's babies. So far our efforts have been directed
towards teaching the mothers how to care for the infants
after they are born. The satisfactory results of this instruction
in mother-craft are shown in the steady decline
in the number of deaths which take place in the 3 to 12
months age-periods. But in the deaths which take place
in the earliest weeks of life (a period chiefly influenced by
ante-natal conditions) there has been no continuous decrease.
It has for some time been evident to experts that the next
step must be to make provision for supervising the health
of expectant mothers.
PUBLIC AMBULANCE.
60. The Public Ambulance, for accidents and non-infectious
illness, was used 120 times, compared with 123, 147,
127, and 150, in the four preceding years. The following
were the journeys made:—
To Guy's Hospital 19
Cottage Hospitals. 48
Seamen's and Miller Hospitals 20
King's Hospital 3
London Hospital 3
St. Thomas' 2
Union Infirmary —
Other hospitals. 5