52 Heredity and Child Culture 



of infants from maternal causes have not de- 

 creased in proportion to the lessened death 

 rate of later infancy. The Children's Bureau 

 of Washington reports that in a study of rural 

 areas of six different states, 80 per cent, of 

 the mothers had received no trained oversight 

 during pregnancy. The witty aphorism of Dr. 

 Holmes that the proper time to begin the treat- 

 ment of many diseases is one hundred years 

 before birth might be paraphrased into the idea 

 that an available per,iod of nine months can be 

 utilized in trying to produce a healthy infant. 

 Of deaths occurring under one year, over 40 per 

 cent, are due to unfavorable congenital condi- 

 tions. Of all deaths during the first month of 

 life, 80 per cent, are due to causes associated 

 with prematurity or congenital diseases, de- 

 formities or malformations. Thus among all 

 babies dying under one year, over one-third 

 die before they are one month old. Most of 

 these babies die because they are too feeble or 

 sickly to survive, and this in turn may be 

 caused by improper oversight of the mother. 

 It is especially during the latter months of 



