238 MEDICAL SECTION 



pregnancies, or over 25 per cent. Just think of 

 the blasting of hopes, the discouragement of womanly 

 effort, these figures imply ! Something must be done 

 to prevent this enormous loss of life before its portals 

 are fully entered. 



Secondly, we have a very large mortality during 

 the first few days and weeks of life. The Health 

 Officer of Washington has stated that in 1911, out 

 of 957 deaths in the first year of life, 151 occurred on 

 the first day, 130 between the first and seventh days, 

 and 114 between the seventh and the thirty-first days ; 

 that is, 395, or about 40 per cent, of the deaths of the 

 first year, occurred during the first month and about 

 one-sixth on the first day. These figures were not 

 exceptional, for in 1910, out of 1,070 deaths, 150 

 occurred on the first day, and in 1909 out of 1,042 

 deaths 140 occurred on] the first day. So we can set 

 down one-sixth of the mortality of the first year as 

 occurring on the first day, and almost one-third of the 

 first year mortality" as occurring during the first week. 

 This first week's mortality is not due to the milk or to 

 the manner of feeding, but to earlier acting causes, 

 such as hereditary weakness or disease, malformations, 

 difficult or mismanaged childbirth and septic infection. 



Thirdly, we have a large mortality during the 

 remainder of the first year. This is due to difficulties 

 with nutrition and to infections, particularly to gastro- 

 intestinal and respiratory diseases. Along with this 

 mortality there goes, of course, a morbidity which is 

 preventible to a large degree. A few statistics are 

 of interest in this connection. 



Of 10,000 infants nursed at the breast, there died 

 during the first year of life 580; of 10,000 artificially 

 fed babies there died 4,588, that is to say, the breast- 

 fed baby has about nine times as many c fiances for 

 life as has the baby artificially fed. This is the most 

 important fact with reference to mortality and mor- 

 bidity during the first year of life, that over 85 per 



