276 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



PRACTICAL INFANT CONSERVATION 



M. D. Pollock, M. D., Decatur, III. 



I have but one excuse to offer for the title of this paper, 

 namely, I happen to be a citizen of what is said to be the 

 most healthful city for babies in the world, Decatur, 111., 

 U. S. A. We have succeeded in raising her from the mud 

 and malarial swamps of earlier days, and placed her on the 

 world's health pinnacle for babies. 



The recent Red Cross Survey of Decatur, under the aus- 

 pices of the State Department of Public Welfare, in its re- 

 port, makes the following statement relative to infant mor- 

 tality : 



"Sir Arthur Newlsholme, the eminent English authority 

 on infant health, has written that 'Infant mortality is the 

 most sensative index we possess of social welfare and of 

 sanitary administration, especially under urban condi- 

 tions.' The Decatur figures show it to be very progres- 

 sive in the reduction of infant deaths." 



"During the fiscal year 1918-1919, 918 babies were born 

 in Decatur; 35 babies were reported to have died during 

 the first year of life, giving a rate of 38.19 per one thousand 

 births." 



Assuming that births and deaths are well reported and 

 this rate therefore correct, Decatur has reason to take 

 pride in this remarkably low rate. It is considerably lower 

 than for any city reported for the Federal census area, and 

 lower than New Zealand, which ranks lowest of the count- 

 tries of the world that report these figures. 



The Federal Census for the 23 states in the registration 

 area reported in 1911 an infant mortality rate of 124 per 

 thousand live births, and in 1915 for a smaller area, it 

 showed a rate which varied from 70 to 120. Cities of 

 25,000 population or over ranged from 54 in Brookline, 

 Mass. to 196 in Shenandoah, Pa. New Zealand has re- 

 duced its rate to 51. 



