Dr. R. Deane Sweeting's report to the Local Government Board upon a re-inspection of Ilkeston Borough : with especial reference to the use of the hospital for infectious diseases there.

  • Sweeting, R. Deane.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dr. R. Deane Sweeting's report to the Local Government Board upon a re-inspection of Ilkeston Borough : with especial reference to the use of the hospital for infectious diseases there. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Dr. Marion Arckihald Ch.B.), was appointed assistant medical officer of health in July, 1910. She also acts as health visitor, to carry out the Notification of Births Act, 1907. Her predecessor, the first lady assistant medical officer of health, was appointed in 1908. She is school medical officer as well. She visits mothers on the third day after parturition, and fills up a suitable form. She distributes cards containing rules for feeding, and visits premature and delicate children again within a month. Parents are also encouraged to bring weakly babies to her office at the town hall for advice. She informed me that she had come across unusually few dirty houses in the borough, and that the people were cleanly on the whole ; but that improper feeding and generally careless tending were important factors in producing the fatal diarrhma which largely contributed to the high infant mortality in the borough. Female factory labour is not directly concerned with the high infant mortality that obtains in the borough. It is true that several thousand girls are employed in the lace and hosiery factories in and close to the borough ; but in nearly all instances they cease their employment when they marry, though some continue work at home as “ out-workers ”; married women only work at these factories, as a rule, if childless or deserted. In many manufacturing towns, such as Ilkeston, factory workers marry early, without proper equipment for the duties of motherhood, and many such young mothers are of poor physique; their first or second baby being often weakly at birth, and habitually hand-fed. But Dr. Archibald tells me that this is not true of the mothers of Ilkeston generally, most of whom are able to feed their offspring at the breast. And yet a great many of these waste away and die before attaining twelve months, indicating that even when there is breast feeding other influences may lead to high infant mortality. This is rather to be cor- related with improper and irregular feeding by ignorant mothers, combined with a general want of care of their babies by them, leading to marasmic conditions, often associated with diarrhma. It cannot, therefore, be said of Ilkeston, whatever may be the case elsewhere, that industrial employment of women is a large factor in the production of high infant mortality. Similar ignorance and carelessness account in a large degree for the high mortality from measles and whooping cough in the borough [see Table A above). Young children are recklessly exposed to the infection of these diseases by careless mothers. Of the probable influence of nuisances from the privy system and defective scavenging in the production of infantile diarrhma I have already spoken. Bye-latrs with respect to [a) new streets and buildings and {b) nuisances were confirmed by the Home Office as far back as 1864. They are altogether of obsolete type and do not contain important provisions in relation to public health authorised by the legislature in the past 40 years : they should be superseded by new codes. The Board have been in correspondence with the town council on the matter ; but so far nothing appears to have been settled.
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