Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-06
HYGIENE SERVICE
HELD INADEQUATE.
Greater Medical Aid Needed
to Cut Local Infant
Mortality Rate.

/
Note.--This is the. third q a series p 2,
! articles on me infant n0rfd}fiy rate ~ ~
/ District OF Columbia The fourth Of the
j series aciU appear tomorrow
| Can the value of a baby's life be
measured in terms of dollars anc
| cents?
Evidently il is considered too eX
pensive to give the District health
officer sufficient appropriation ade
! quately to deal with the serious queS
| ton Of lowering Washington hig}
| infant mortality rate.
1t is a question largely of education
And the causal factors in infant NOR
tally are SO numerous and involved
that with the present staff assigned
to the District health officer to treat
| this subject it is virtually Impossible
to extend the care, attention ana IN
formation which are vital to the child
before and after birth and which may
be the difference between life ano
death.
With this condition In mind. Wash
ington's welfare and health workers
are endeavoring to provide for the
enlargement of the child hygiene serv
ice here and place under medical at
tention those mothers who through
ignorance or force of circumstances
bring their children into the Worlo
with little or no professional super
vision, which in turn has resulted III
high infant mortality rate for the
District.
Organizations now intensely inter
ested in this problem agree that 1t lies
not with the mothers who can afford
and employ good medical attention
before and after the birth of their
children, and who can acquire and
apply all available knowledge on the
care of the infant during its first year
of life. Instead, mothers with scanty
incomes. who live In crowded houses
and who must perform multitudinous
| duties, who either unconsciously
| walk or are forced to walk in a world
of darkness on this subject, are the
ones who must be reached.
Many Factors Involved.
Various surveys, lengthy. detailed
and expensive, have been made OF the
infant mortality question in several
cities throughout the United States 10y
the Children's Bureau of the Depart
ment of Labor, but Washington is not
included III the number. a thorough
knowledge Of the causes of infant
mortality is the first step toward their
complete control, for in the light OF
such knowledge preventive measures
may be intelligently planned to pro
duce a maximum OF result. And the
analysis, If it is to be thorough. must
be carried beyond the pathological
cause. the Childrens Bureau holds.
a survey of Baltimore would not be
altogether applicable to a study of in
FAINT mortality causes here because OF
the differences in race, nationality anG
other factors between the two cities
An average taken OF surveys in eight
cities. however, undoubtedly would
strike many of the conditions that
exist here. This average, and now an
important record in the files of the
Children's Bureau, points to at least
rs factors any one of which may in
6uence the death of an infant during
its first year of life.
Summarized, these factors include
Age of infant, seasonal conditions
month of birth, sex of infant, physica.
condition of mother. death of mother
tuberculosis of mother, medical care
before the child is born, frequency OF
births, age Of mother. interval since
preceding birth, plural births, order
of birth, interval before succeeding
pregnancy, type of birth, including
premature births; type of delivery
type of feeding, color and nationality
of mother, housing congestion, EN-
ployment of mother prior to the
child's birth, employment of mother
during first year of infants life and
earnings OF father.
First Month Hardest.
The first month of an infants life
is the hardest, the largest number Of
deaths occurring during this period
After that, however, the mortality
rate decreases. Then marked differ
ences in mortality in the several sea
sons were found. From gastric anG
intestinal diseases the maximum NOR
tally occurred in August, and was /;
times the minimum, which occurred
in January. From respiratory dis
| eases the maximum mortality, In Feb
ruary, was seven times the minimum
in August.
The mortality was lowest for infants
born in August and highest for thost
born in June The differences in NOR
tally rates for infants born in differ
ent months was determined largely by
| the relation which the month of birth
| bore to the infants ages when they
are exposed during the Summer tC
| the heaviest incidence Of these dis
| eases.
The combined survey found that the
| mortality rate for male was about one
| fourth higher than that for female
| infants. Though greater difficulty
| Of labor in case Of male births might
| explain the excess mortality from
causes peculiar to early infancy" says
| the report, the greater mortality
| from other causes appears to be ex
! plainable only by differences in vital
| ity to the disadvantage of the male
/ sex"
| The percentage of death OF first
! born children was slightly higher thar
| that for second born infants, the sur
| vey found, and the excess mortality
| among first-born infants was due
| largely to a higher death rate from
causes peculiar to early infancy anC
| to a greater proportion of premature
| births. First born infants of mothers
under 20 and of those 40 years of age
and over also had the highest mortal
| ity rates These variations were
| probably associated with physical i'm
maturity or with changes in the phys
zeal condition of the mother" the re
| port states.
Artificial Feeding.
| For infants born ut short intervals
after preceding births the mortality
rate was highest, according to the re
port. In q small proportion Of cases
| those in which the mother became
pregnant during the first year Of life
| of the infant-they became q factor IL
I the infant s chances Of survival. This
was due. according to the report, t.
! -. % 81,