212 NURSING STATISTICS FROM STUDY OF 1500 CHILDREN 



INFANT MORTALITY FOR BERLIN IN 1OO6 (LnngHtein) 



In Mothers' milk Animals' milk Other Food Total 



food not given 



January 85 317 97 161 662 



February ....49 238 91 164 639 



March 65 259 80 170 566 



April 51 257 136 193 637 



May 66 344 111 182 703 



June 47 325 138 210 721 



July 56 528 204 234 1032 



August 89 761 332 297 1487 



September ...61 427 196 230 919 



October 75 246 112 166 600 



November ...73 234 92 183 586 



December ...86 236 80 241 639 



Furthermore, statistics published in the American Underwriter 

 of December, 1909 (E. B. Phelps), show that the deaths due 

 to diarrhoea and enteritis in the registration area were 113 per 

 100,000 inhabitants for the years 1900-1904 and had increased 

 to 118 per 100,000 inhabitants from 1905 to 1908; in the rural 

 parts of this registration area, where undoubtedly breast feed- 

 ing is diminishing more rapidly, this increase in mortality has 

 been greater, going from 73 to 93 per 100.000. 



Our mortality during these two years was at the rate of 75 

 per 1,000 born. We do not wish to compare this with New York 

 City's mortality, for that would be erroneous, as it leaves out 

 entirely the many illegitimate and ill-cared-for infants, whose 

 mothers are not likely to apply to institutions such as ours for 

 relief. Fifty-four out of the entire 117 dying died before the 

 age of two months. Of interest as to the causes of these deaths, 

 I should like to mention that 12 of them, more than one-tenth 

 of the entire deaths, were due to prematurity, and for this we 

 have recently instituted a regime by which the children are 

 immediately taken to an institution where proper care can be 

 taken of them. 



In the course of the work we have been able to gather some 

 social data, which you will find in the First Annual Report of 

 our work. Inasmuch as intelligence in preparing milk mixtures 

 and the general care of the child bears such an intimate relation 

 to infant mortality, I wish to present to you Table VI, which 

 shows the relation of literacy to infant mortality. Here it is 

 seen that where both parents could read (706 families) the 

 infant mortality was 136.7 per 1,000 born. Where both could not 

 read, the mortality was 190 per 1,000 born. Where neither one 

 nor the other could read, the mortality did not differ greatly 

 with that where both could read. 



