MOTHERS
LITERACY[[22]]
There are differences in the infant mortality rate between the babies of literate and the babies of illiterate mothers; between those with mothers who can speak English and those with mothers who can not; and between babies of the mothers who have been in this country for a considerable period and those of the newer arrivals. Comparisons of this nature are confined to the foreign mothers, as only three cases of illiteracy were found among native mothers, and the other comparisons would not, of course, be applicable in any case to native mothers.
[22]. By literacy is meant ability to read and write in any language and not simply in English.
The next table shows that the infant mortality rate among the children of illiterate foreign mothers was 214, or 66 per thousand greater than the rate among literate foreign mothers.
| Table 13.—Distribution of Births and of Deaths During First Year, Infant Mortality Rate, and Number and Per Cent of Stillbirths, According to Literacy of Foreign Mothers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LITERACY OF FOREIGN MOTHERS. | Total births. | Live births. | STILLBIRTHS. | DEATHS DURING FIRST YEAR. | ||
| Number. | Per cent. | Number. | Infant mortality rate. | |||
| Foreign mothers | 691 | 648 | 43 | 6.2 | 111 | 171.3 |
| Literate | 445 | 419 | 26 | 5.8 | 62 | 148.0 |
| Illiterate | 246 | 229 | 17 | 6.9 | 49 | 214.0 |
ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH
The next table shows that babies whose mothers can not speak English were characterized by a more unfavorable infant mortality rate than other babies.
| Table 14.—Distribution of Births and of Deaths During First Year, Infant Mortality Rate, and Number and Per Cent of Stillbirths, According to Ability of Foreign Mother to Speak English. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH. | Total births. | Live births. | STILLBIRTHS. | DEATHS DURING FIRST YEAR. | ||
| Number. | Per cent. | Number. | Infant mortality rate. | |||
| Foreign mothers | 691 | 648 | 43 | 6.2 | 111 | 171.3 |
| Speak English | 263 | 247 | 16 | 6.1 | 36 | 145.7 |
| Can not speak English | 428 | 401 | 27 | 6.3 | 75 | 187.0 |
YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES
In addition to a consideration of the babies according to their mothers’ ability to speak English, it is of interest to note the infant mortality rates among babies whose mothers have been in this country for different periods of time.
The high infant mortality rate for the children of newer immigrants, illiterates, and those who can not speak English is perhaps affected by the fact that they are at the same time generally of the poorest families and are housed in the most insanitary and unhealthful part of the city.
AGE
The age of the mother is frequently believed to be a factor in the health of the child. The highest infant mortality rate was found to be that for the group of babies with mothers over 40 years of age, and the lowest for babies of mothers from 20 to 24 years of age.
| Table 16.—Distribution of Births and of Deaths During First Year, Infant Mortality Rate, and Number and Per Cent of Stillbirths, According to Age of Mother. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGE OF MOTHER. | Total births. | Live births. | STILLBIRTHS. | DEATHS DURING FIRST YEAR. | ||
| Number. | Per cent. | Number. | Infant mortality rate. | |||
| All mothers | 1,551 | 1,463 | 88 | 5.7 | 196 | 134.0 |
| Under 20 | 105 | 95 | 10 | 9.5 | 13 | 136.8 |
| 20 to 24 | 476 | 454 | 22 | 4.6 | 55 | 121.1 |
| 25 to 29 | 410 | 391 | 19 | 4.6 | 56 | 143.2 |
| 30 to 39 | 480 | 449 | 31 | 6.5 | 61 | 135.9 |
| 40 and over | 80 | 74 | 6 | 7.5 | 11 | 148.6 |
The youngest mothers have a higher stillbirth rate than other mothers, and the oldest group of mothers has the next highest rate. In this connection not only the foregoing table is of interest, but also Table [XII], based upon the entire reproduction histories of the mothers included in this study. As all the children borne by these mothers are included, the base numbers in the latter table are larger and the figures therefore somewhat more significant.