The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-08-03
TO LOWER INFANT MORTALITY
American Academy of Medicine Plan
Conference on Its Prevention

conference on It's prevention
The present waste of infant life
through bad feeding, lack of fresh air,
and inadequate sunshine, is to be dis
cussed at New Haven next November
under the auspices of the American
Academy oil Medicine at a conference
on the prevention of infant mortality
In a preliminary announcement the
committee in charge of the confer
ence seeks to show what may be done
in the way of remedial measures by
the wider diffusion OF knowledge of in
FAINT feeding and hygiene, by a more
enlightened care of babies during the
summer, by the lettering of the milk
supply, by the inspection of tenements
and other agencies. They cite from
the statistics collected by DR. L. En-
NETT Holt, whose table deals with
New York City and covers the period
from 1891 to 1909.
During 1891 when the population
under five years amounted to 1S8,703,
the mortality of children under five
was 1922. This meant that the num-
Der of deaths for every thousand chill
dren under FIVE years of age was SO.
come down to So per thousand; and in
1900 it had been reduced to 67 total
decline of nearly 80 per thousand in
10 years. Though the population I'M
der five years had increased $4,000 the
actual decrease in deaths of children
under five years was 1900. This de-
crease is attributed to the wider diff
fusion of knowledge of infant feeding
and hygiene: to the more enlightened
care given to the babies during the
summer; to the lettering of the milk
supply and to the many agencies that
are at work to secure more favorable
conditions for the babies in the over
crowded sections of the city
Nearly every civilized country"
say the committee, has been alarmed
at the appalling mortality among the
babies, and in many places special eff
forts have been made to lower the
death rate. One of the most conspic-
uously successful of these was tried
in England, and is now generally spo-
ken of as the Understood plan. But
there is just as much cause to call ii
the Broadbent plan, for it was Mayor
Broadbent of Huddersfield who an
nounced on the day of his election in
1904 that he would give a prize of
about So to the mother of every cnild
born during his year of office 1t was
stipulated, though, that the child was
to be alive and well and was to be
brought to the town hall on the ap-
pointed day. AS a means of insuring
intelligent care for the children a
nf
who visited the mothers and gave
them simple, practical instruction in
the proper hygiene and feeding of the
babies.
When the exhibition day arrived.
100 lively, healthy babies were enter
ed in the baby show, and their moth
ers received the promised award. In
cidentally when the town clerk made
up the vitality records for the year il
was found that the death rate of 1874
babies in 1000 had gone down to 81 in
1000.
In many parts of Germany while
the baby snow does not figure CON
spicuously on the program. the plan
Is in force of instructing the mothers
through a regularly appointed board
of visitors. In some of the German
cities, among them Cologne, il the
circumstances of the family are such
that the mother is compelled to be
one OF the bread winners arrange
ments are made for ner support for
the first month of the babys life SO
that the baby can be sure OF having
the mothers care during the first few
critical weeks of its life. In our own
country the education of the mothers
is one of the most important features
of the work of the visiting nurses"
Among the officers and committee
members of the New Haven confer
ence who will discuss preventive
measures are Prof c. Il. A. Winsloy
Of the Massachusetts Institute OF
Technology. DR.. Henry B. Bowditcf
OF Boston, DR.. Helen C. Putnam Of
Providence and DR.. James Morgan
Rotch professor of pediatrics at Har
ward.