[24]. Liefmann, H., and Lindemann, H., Die Lokalization der Sauglingsterblichkeit und ihre Beziehungen zur Wohnungsfrage. Med. Klinik 1912, pp. 8, 1074.
Respiratory diseases were reported as a cause of death with almost as great frequency as diarrheal diseases. As shown by Table [19], these deaths occurred principally in the colder months of the first and fourth quarters of the calendar year.
FEEDING
Food is recognized as of such importance in relation to infant mortality that studies of this subject frequently resolve themselves into studies of feeding only. Invariably these demonstrate the truth of the statement of Dr. G. F. McCleary[[25]] that “in human milk we have a unique and wonderful food for which the ingenuity of man may toil in vain to find a satisfactory substitute.” Many mothers, however, still fail to appreciate the risk their young babies face in being given any except the natural infant food, and consequently babies are in large numbers wholly or partly weaned from the breast in the earliest months of their lives.
[25]. Infantile Mortality and Infants’ Milk Depots. London.
Breast feeding is far more general, comparatively, among the poorer mothers than among the well to do, as shown by the following summary which gives the number and per cent. of babies of mothers with husbands earning varying incomes, who had been completely weaned from the breast when they were 3, 6, or 9 months of age, respectively. For each of the periods indicated the percentage completely weaned from the breast is much greater in the groups where earnings are highest.
| Table 20.—Distribution of Babies Alive at 3, 6, and 9 Months of Age by Type of Feeding at Each of Said Ages, According to Annual Earnings of Father and Nativity of Mother. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANNUAL EARNINGS OF FATHER AND NATIVITY OF MOTHER. | BABIES LIVING AT AGE OF— | ||||||||
| 3 months. | 6 months. | 9 months. | |||||||
| Total. | Completely weaned from breast. | Total. | Completely weaned from breast. | Total. | Completely weaned from breast. | ||||
| Number. | Per cent. | Number. | Per cent. | Number. | Per cent. | ||||
| Total | 1,355 | 193 | 14.2 | 1,313 | 250 | 19.0 | 1,282 | 358 | 27.5 |
| Under $624 | 341 | 22 | 6.5 | 322 | 32 | 9.9 | 309 | 57 | 18.4 |
| $625 to $899 | 358 | 48 | 13.4 | 351 | 63 | 17.9 | 342 | 85 | 24.9 |
| $900 and over[[26]] | 629 | 114 | 18.1 | 616 | 146 | 23.7 | 608 | 201 | 33.1 |
| Not reported[[27]] | 27 | 9 | 33.3 | 24 | 9 | 37.5 | 23 | 10 | 43.3 |
| Mother native | 765 | 155 | 20.3 | 747 | 195 | 26.1 | 735 | 251 | 34.1 |
| Under $624 | 69 | 10 | 14.5 | 66 | 13 | 19.7 | 65 | 18 | 27.7 |
| $625 to $899 | 180 | 36 | 20.0 | 177 | 46 | 26.0 | 173 | 55 | 31.8 |
| $900 and over[[26]] | 491 | 100 | 20.4 | 482 | 127 | 26.3 | 476 | 168 | 35.3 |
| Not reported[[27]] | 25 | 9 | 36.0 | 22 | 9 | 40.9 | 21 | 10 | 47.6 |
| Mother foreign | 590 | 38 | 6.4 | 566 | 55 | 9.7 | 547 | 102 | 18.6 |
| Under $624 | 272 | 12 | 4.4 | 256 | 19 | 7.4 | 244 | 39 | 16.0 |
| $625 to $899 | 178 | 12 | 6.7 | 174 | 17 | 9.8 | 169 | 30 | 17.8 |
| $900 and over[[26]] | 138 | 14 | 10.1 | 134 | 19 | 14.2 | 132 | 33 | 25.0 |
| Not reported[[27]] | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
[26]. Includes those reported as earning “ample.” “Ample,” as used in this report has a somewhat technical meaning; when information concerning the father’s earnings was not available and the family showed no evidences of poverty, the word “ample” was used. When, however, the family was clearly in a state of abject poverty, it was included in the group “Under $521.”
[27]. Unmarried mothers’ babies also included.
Breast feeding, wholly or in part, is continued for a longer period by foreign than by native mothers, as indicated in the preceding table, showing that 20.3, 26.1, and 34.1 per cent. of the native mothers’ babies as compared with 6.4, 9.7, and 18.6 per cent. of the foreign mothers’ babies had been weaned from the breast at the age of 3, 6, and 9 months, respectively.