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and dangers which beset artificial feeding of their babes. Our
intention was that, in very special cases, the women sanitary
inspectors might render valuable services in giving advice to
some of the very poorest parents. The London County Council'
however, pointed out that the terms upon which the women
sanitary inspectors were appointed would not permit of their
doing this particular work. They are, however, permitted to
visit houses in which infant deaths have occurred, and it is
to be hoped that the legal difficulties which seriously handicap
our efforts to take preventive action in regard to infantile
mortality will be removed. In many cases, notwithstanding the
difficult regulations which exist, a considerable amount of most
valuable work has been carried out by your women sanitary
inspectors, who have, in addition to their other duties, visited
and inspected, as sanitary inspectors, 517 homes in the poorest
parts of the Borough in which births were known to have taken
place. These inspections necessitated the service of many
notices for the abatement of existing nuisances.
Methods of Feeding.—From information I have been
able to obtain from reports before me relating to 517 of the
poorest homes, the number of children entirely breast-fed
amounted to 147, or 28.4 per cent. Of the remaining 370
infants, for which artificial feeding was resorted to, the method
of feeding consisted of condensed milk (often some of the
cheaper brands which are seriously deficient in fat), baked flour,
sop, and a small proportion on cows' milk.
A large number of mothers put out their children to
nurse on account of their having daily work. From the
information we have obtained it would appear that there is a
greater desire than one would believe on the part of poor parents
to suckle their own children, the greatest difficulty that arises
being their necessity to work.