The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
.
il
P L A T E I.— G E N E R A L V I E W
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OF SO U TH E R N
PA RT O F N E W B E D F O R D , S H O W I N G T H E
A C U S H N E T R IV E R .
MANY COTTON
M IL LS
LOCATED ALONG T H E
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
CHILDREN’S BUREAU
JU LIA C . L A T H R O P , Chief
INFANT MORTALITY
RESULTS OF A FIELD STUDY IN NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
BASED ON BIRTHS IN ONE YEAR
By
JESSAMINE S. WHITNEY
«
INFANT MORTALITY SERIES No. 10
Bureau Publication No. 68
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1920
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CONTENTS.
loun
Page.
Letter of transmittal.............................................................................. ...................................
9
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 11-13
Choice of city................................. . . . ............................... ..............................................
11
Description of city................- ...................................... - ..................................................
12
13
Method of procedure.......... : ............................. ...............................................................
Cooperation................................................ ..........................................................................
13
Analysis of findings........ , ................................................................................................. .. - - - 15-65
Infant mortality rate........................ - .................... ......................................................... 15-17
15
Distribution by precincts................................................. *....................................
15
The ‘ ‘ unfavorable ” area................................... ............ ............................... ..
Nationality...................................................................... - . - .............................................. 17-22
19
Length of residence in the United States........ ..................................................
Literacy and ability to speak English.......... ....................................................
■ 20
Cause of death................................................................................. - ................................ 22-25
Gastric and intestinal diseases.............................. '...............................................
22
Respiratory diseases..................................................................................................
24
24
Causes peculiar to early infancy..........................................................................
Comparison of “ unfavorable ” area with the rest of the city......................
24
Cause of death, by calendar months................................................................
25
Age at death........ .................................................................................. .............................
25
Stillbirths............. ...................................................................................... .......... ............ - 27-28
Comparison with other cities.................................................................................
27
Stillbirth rates and nationality...................................................................
28
Stillbirth rates and other factors— ........................................................... ..
28
28
S e x . . . . . . . . . . ................................... .......... - ........................................................................
29
Age of mother................................... . ........................... .....................- .............................
Order of birth........................................................................................
29
Plural births........ ................................................ ..........................................- ...................
30
Attendance at birth............................................. .................- ................ ......................... 30-32
Infant mortality rates, by attendant at birth.................................................
31
Hospital facilities.....................
31
Midwives.............................................................................
31
Other or no attendant..............................
32
Prevention of ophthalmia neonatorum.............................................................
32
Feeding...........................................................................- . . - ........ ...................................... 32-36
Proportions breast fed and artificially fed........................................................
33
Feeding customs and nationality of mother....................................................
33
Infant mortality rates, by type of feeding.......................................................
34
Feeding in relation to cause of death—
........................................................
36
Economic factors............................................ .................................................. - .............. 36-47
Occupation of father...........................................
36
Basis of classification.....................
37
Distribution of economic groups...............................
37
Economic status and nativity of mother.................. ............................. ..........
38
Infant mortality rates according to father’s earnings............ . .....................
38
Comparison of “ unfavorable” area with the rest of the city.....................
39
3
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 1 3 ^ 0
4
CONTENTS.
Analysis of findings— Continued.
Economic factors— Continued.
Economic status and size of fam ily.................................. ....................... ..........
Father’s earnings and employment of mother............................. ...................
Gainful employment of mother......................... ...................................................
Employment and nativity......................................................................................
Classification of employment...........................................................
Employment during year preceding birth of baby. ..................................
Work after childbirth....................
Gainful employment of mother and feeding:.................................................
Employment of mothers in cotton mills.................................... .......................
Legislation in regard to employment of m other............................ .......... ....
Civic’ and social factors...............................................................................................
Birth registration..........................................
The board of health............................ ,............. ......................................................
Milk supply..............; .................... ................. . . . . ..........................................
Sanitation.. .......................................................... ................................................ ; . .
Water supply..........................................
Sewerage........ ............................... ................................... .......... .............. ........
Toilets........................ ................ .........................................................................
Sewage disposal........................................
Disposal of ashes, refuse, and garbage...... .................................................
Paving streets..........................
Cleaning, sprinkling, and oiling streets.......................................... ..........
Social agencies............................................ ............ ............................. .....................
Instructive Nurses Association............................................................... ....
Boarding homes..................................................................................
Housing..............................................
The river section....................... ................................................................................
Types of houses................... : ............................................................................
The well-to-do section...................................
The native-colored district....................... ........................................................ ....
The newer section ................ ..................................................................................
Legislation..................................
Land congestion in relation to housing.............................................................
Regulation................. . . . . . . . . . ..................................... .............. .........................
Findings of the study.................................................. .......... ........................... ..
Nativity and housing..... ................................................... ...................... ..
Housing in ‘ ‘ unfavorable ” area........... ....................... ...............................
Illegitim acy.............................................
Comparative rates for Massachusetts cities........................ .....................—
Securing of data.................. 1............ .......... ............. ......... ........................•>_____ _
Infant mortality rate for infants of illegitimate birth..................................
Care in confinement.................................
Disposition of infants.............. ............ .................. .................................................
Nationality.....................................
Court action..................................
Age and occupation of mother. ............... ....................................... . . ..............
Summary and conclusions........................................... ...................................................... ....
Infant mortality rate.............................. ............................. ....................................
Nationality........................................ ................ ......................................................
Cause of death.....................................
Attendant at birth.........................
F e e d in g ......................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Page.
40
40
41
41
42
42
43
45
46
47
47-54
47
48-51
49
51-53
51
51
52
52
53
53
53
54
54
54
55-62
55-57
56
57
58
58
59
60
60
61-62
62
62
63-65
63
64
64
64
64
65
65
65
66-69
66
66
66
67
67
CONTENTS.
5
Summary and conclusions— Continued.
Page.
Father’s earnings................................................................................................. - . .
67
Gainful employment of m other........................................... ...............................
67
Civic agencies......... . ........................... ......................................................................
68
Contrast between New Bedford and Brockton................. .............................
68
Appendix...................................................................................................................
71-80
Method of procedure................................................. .............. - .................................... 71-80
71
Scope of inquiry............................................
Infant mortality rate.......................................................
72
Live births excluded in New Bedford......................................................
77
78
Stillbirth rates................... ................................................ - .......... ...................
Stillbirths excluded................................ ........ .....................- ............ ............
80
107
In dex.....................................
GENERAL TABLES.
Table
1. Births during selected year in each precinct of residence, according
to nationality of mother..............................- .......... ........ ................................
2. Births during selected year to foreign-born mothers, infant deaths,
infant mortality rate, and per cent of stillbirths, according to years
of residence of mother in the United States and nationality............
3. Number and per cent distribution of deaths among infants born in
selected year to mothers of specified nationality, by cause of death. .
4. Number and percen t distribution of deaths of infants bom in New
Bedford in selected year and of infant deaths in the registration
area in 1914, b y cause of death.. . - ......................................................
5. Deaths of infants bom during selected year occurring in specified
month, by cause of death............................................... ...............................
6. Deaths among infants born during selected year occurring in speci
fied month of life, by cause of death............................ .............................
7. Deaths among infants born during selected year in each precinct of
residence, by cause of death..........................................................................
8. ’Number and per cent distribution of deaths of infants born during
selected year to mothers of specified nativity, by age at death.. . .
9. Births from all pregnancies, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and
per cent of stillbirths, according to order of birth and age of mother.
10. Mothers reporting specified number of stillbirths, according to the
number of births to mother................................... ................ .....................
11. Mothers reporting specified number of infant deaths, b y number of
live births to mother.....................................- ....................... : .......................
12. Total births and number and per cent of plural births resulting from
all pregnancies, according to age of mother.................... — ..................
13. Births during selected year and number and per cent of births to
mothers with specified kind of attendant, according to nationality
of mother............ .................................................- .....................- -------- --------14. Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per
cent of stillbirths, according to attendant at birth and nativity of
mother......................................... .............. ......................................................... 15. Number and per cent distribution, b y type of feeding, of infants bom
during selected year and surviving at end of third, sixth, and ninth
months, according to nationality of mother......... ...................................
16. Infants bom during selected year to mothers of specified nativity and
surviving at beginning of the month, number and per cent of infants
dying subsequently i n first year, and infant deaths in specified
month of life, according to month of life and type of feeding in the
month................... ............................................................................................. ..
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
83
83
84
85
86
86
86
87
87
89
89
89
96
90
91
92
6
CONTENTS.
Page.
Table 17. Infants bom during selected year and surviving at end of 3, 6, and 9
months of age, whose mothers had specified working status, and
number and per cent artificially fed, according to nationality of
mother.......... ....... ...................................................... ..........................................
18. Births during selected year in 3ach father’s earnings group, according
to occupation of father.. ............................ . ......... .......................................
19. Births during selected year in families of specified number of persons
and average number of persons per family, according to earnings of
father and nativity of mother........................ ..............................................
20. Number and per cent distribution of live births in selected year to
mothers of specified nativity in and outside “ unfavorable’’area,
according to earnings of father........... .................. .....................................
21. Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and
per cent of stillbirths, according to employment of mother during
year before birth of in fa n t............................................................................
22. Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and
per cent of stillbirths, according to employment of mother during
year preceding birth of infant and interval between cessation of
work in cotton mills and confinement......... ............................................
23. Live births during selected year, infant deaths, and infant mortality
rate, according to employment of mother during year following
birth of in fa n t............................: ........................... .........................................
24. Live births, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent of deaths
from gastric and intestinal diseases, according to employment of
mother during year following birth of infant, and infant’s age when
mother resumed work in cotton mills, and nationality of m other..
25. Number and per cent distribution of births during selected year to
gainfully employed mothers of specified nativity, according to earn
ings of mother during year following birth of infant............................
26. Births in selected year to foreign-bom mothers gainfully employed in
specified way during year following birth of infant, according to
literacy and nationality of mother........... ...................................................
27. Births in selected year to foreign-bom mothers gainfully employed in
specified way during year following birth of infant, according to
nationality and years of residence of mother in the United States.
28. Births in selected year to mothers employed in cotton mills during
year following confinement, according to specified number of
persons in family, and earnings of father and nationality of mother. _
29. Dwellings occupied by mothers of specified nativity, according to
specified sanitary condition of dwelling......... .......................................
30. Births during selected year in dwellings of specified number of rooms,
according to number of persons in dwelling and nativity of mother.
31. Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per
cent of stillbirths, according to number of persons per room in
selected area and nativity of mother..........................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
93
94
95
96
96
97
98
98
100
100
101
102
103
104
105
7
CONTENTS.
MAP AND CHARTS.
„
Map.
_
,,
,
___
Faces page.
New Bedford, Mass., 1913, showing distribution of live births and
infant deaths included injstudy, according to place of residence.. .
Chart I. Infant mortality rates from specified diseases among infants of native
and foreign-born mothers, and of Portuguese-white mothers sepa
rately.................................................. ......................................................................
II.
Deaths from respiratory and gastric and intestinal diseases, by calen
dar months......................... ............................................................... ..; .................
I I I . Percentage of deaths under 1 month of age in the four cities speci
fied............................................................................................... r :.........................
I V . Relative mortality during first year of life for Manchester, New Bed
ford, and the registration States in 1910.......................................................
Y . Infant mortality rates according to father’s earnings for the three cities
s p e c i f i e d . . . . . .............................................................................i .............. ........
VI.
Percentage of mothers gainfully employed, by nativity, according to
earnings of father......................... ..................................................................... ..
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Plate I. General view of southern part of New Bedford, showing the many cot
ton mills located along the Acushnet River. Frontispiece.
II. Two-family mill houses— one toilet in cellar for each two apartments.
I II. Part of a group of 27 mill houses— toilet adjoining the kitchen in each
apartment.
IV . Brick mill tenements— toilets in the cellars.
V . Large block tenement in which 56 persons were living— one toilet in the
hall on each floor.
Y I. A particularly bad block tenement— containing eight small apartments.
V II. House containing small, ill-planned apartments— streets and the yard
in the rear littered with rubbish and garbage.
V I I I . Old cottages raised with stores built beneath.
I X . View in the center of the native black section; here there is no paving,
and privies are found in the yards.
X . New three- and six-family tenements averaging five rooms to each
apartment.
X I.
Model mill cottages containing six and eight rooms in “ Howland Vil
lage. ”
XII.
Method of meeting the fire regulations, which require two exits.
X I I I . Another way of complying with the fire regulations.
X I V . Dwelling opposite a vacant lot used as dumping ground.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
15
24
25
26
27
40
44
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
U. S.
D
epartm ent
of
L
abor,
CfliLD R E N ’ s B
,
ureau
,
Washington October 11, 1919.
S i r : Herewith I transmit a report upon infant mortality in Now
Pedford, Mass.
This study was made under the direction of Miss- Jessamine S.
Whitney, who has written the report. Miss Helen Wilson made the
special study of housing; Miss Viola I. Paradise and Miss R uth True
are responsible for the study on illegitimacy; Miss Emma' Duke pre
pared the statistical material. The report was revised and edited
by Dr. Robert M. Woodbury.
The Children’s Bureau wishes to express its appreciation of the
liberal cooperation given by the municipal authorities, civic associa
tions, and the press in New Bedford.
J u l i a C. L a t h r o p ,
Chief.
Hon.
W . B. W
il s o n ,
Secretary o f Labor.
9
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INFANT MORTALITY, NEW BEDFORD,MASS
IN TRO D U CTIO N .
CHOICE OF CITY.
New Bedford, Mass., was selected as one of the cities to be studied
by the Children’s Bureau in its series of investigations of the social con
ditions underlying infant mortality. Cities previously studied by the
bureau and for which reports have been published are Johnstown,
Pa., Manchester, N. H., Waterbury, Conn., Saginaw, Mich., and Brock
ton, Mass.
In 1913 New Bedford had the high infant mortality rate of 143
deaths under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births.1 Not only was the rate
high for this particular year, but the rates for preceding years also
had been consistently high. New Bedford is a textile manufactur
ing city, and the four textile manufacturing cities— Fall River, Lowell,
New Bedford, and Lawrence— had the highest infant mortality rates
of any of the cities of Massachusetts of over 50,000 population
except Holyoke (1.910) .2 (See Table I.)
T a b l e I .— Infant mortality rates in 1913 for cities in Massachusetts having a population
o f 50,000 or over in 1910:a
City.
L ynn........................ .................................
Somerville..................................................
Brockton............................ .......................
Cambridge................................ ................
Springfield................................................
Worcester...................................................
Infant
mortality
rate.
City.
Infant
mortality
rate.
82
86
98
98
104
105
110
128
143
151
151
a Seventy-third Annual Report on Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Massachusetts for the year 1914, p.
207. Boston, 1915. Holyoke has been omitted from this table, since the presence of an infant asylum
makes comparison unfair.
The birth rate and general death rate for New Bedford were also
above the average for the State; the former, 33.8s was the second
1 Seventy-second Report of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Massachusetts for the year 1913, pp. 4 and
38. Boston, 1914.
* Holyoke has an infant asylum which increases the rate abnormally, since deaths of infants in the asylum
who were born outside the city are included.
3 Based on estimated population, Bureau of the Census, Bulletin 133, p. 22, and on births in 1913, Seventythird Annual Report on Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Massachusetts for the year 1914, p. 207. Boston,
1915.
11
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
12
IN F A N T M ORTALITY.
highest rate among the 12 largest cities in the State, while the death
rate, 15.6,1 was slightly above the average for Massachusetts.
An investigation of the causes of the excessive mortality of infants
in one of these industrial centers seemed desirable; a study might
indicate whether these high rates were due to industrial conditions,
such as low wages and employment of mothers, or whether factors
connected with the customs of the immigrant population, such as
type of feeding, were responsible. The study in Manchester, N. H .,2
also a textile-manufacturing city, has shown an excessive death rate
among the infants of French-Canadian mothers, a large proportion
of whom were gainfully employed. An important consideration in
the selection was the contrast between New Bedford with a rate of
143 and Brockton, another industrial city about 30 miles away, with
a rate of only 98. Studies were made b y the bureau in both cities;
Brockton, a shoe-manufacturing city, had well-paid union labor, with
a relatively small proportion of foreign bom ; while New Bedford,
devoted mainly to the manufacture of textiles, was characterized by
a large foreign population and a relatively large proportion of women
gainfully employed.
DESCRIPTION OF CITY.
New Bedford, in 1913 a city of approximately 107,000 population,
is located 57 miles southeast of Boston, at the mouth of Acushnet
River, where it broadens into Buzzards Bay. The city is attractively
situated and occupies a particularly favorable position commercially,
extending along the west bank of the Acushnet River for a distance of
lOf miles and having unusual dockage facilities.
In former times it was the whaling center of the continent, but since
the introduction of petroleum into general use as an illuminant the
industry has declined.
In the past 40 years New Bedford has led in the manufacture of
textiles and especially in the production of fine cotton yams. The
line of the water front, formerly indicated b y the masts of “ whalers”
at anchor in the river, is now marked b y tall chimneys of cotton mills
along the banks. Besides the cotton mills, other industries have
developed in New Bedford, including the manufacture of cordage,
cigars, shoes, glass, silverware, mechanical tools, twist drills, and
manufactures of copper.
The city has a large foreign element, attracted there b y the demand
in the textile and shipping industries for unskilled and semiskilled
labor. In 1910 over 45 per cent of the population were foreign born,
i Seventy-third Annual Report on Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Massachusetts for the year 1914,
p. 201. Boston, 1915.
* Duncan, Beatrice Sheets, and Duke, Emma: Infant Mortality: Results of a Field Study in Manchester,
N. H., based on births in one year. U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 20, Infant Mortality Series
No. 6. Washington, 1917.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
13
including large numbers of French Canadians, English, and Portu
guese. Near the mills and along the river is crowded the bulk of the
city’s population. The residential districts where most of the native
Americans live lie toward the west at some distance from the busi
ness section of the city.
M ETHOD OF PROCEDURE.
Registered births during the calendar year 1913 were used as the
basis of this study. Birth certificates for 3,633 babies born in the
city during this period were copied from the records in the office of
the city clerk. The death certificate also for any of these infants
who had died under 1 year of age was copied on the corresponding record.
After arranging the records b y districts, women agents of the bureau
visited the mothers to secure the information upon which the study
was to be based.
Not all these births could be used in the detailed analysis. The
number of removals, nonresidents, and infants for whom full infor
mation could not be obtained was 971. These were excluded. This
study is based, then, upon 2,662 births, 2,587 five and 75 stillbirths.1
COOPERATION.
Too much praise can not be given to the city officials, the press, the
clergy, public-spirited citizens, civic associations, and other agencies
for generous assistance in the work. The value of the report is due
in large part to the completeness of the information given by the
mothers of New Bedford, and thanks are especially due to them for
the information and cooperation which they so willingly gave.
i For the discussion of mortality rates for the excluded groups and of the general infant mortality rate
for the city the reader is referred to Appendix, pp. 73-74,76, and especially pp. 77,78.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NEW BEDFORD
M ASSACHUSETTS
•-J-ÔÜ'Srî
1913
S H O W IN G
/■
DISTRIBUTION OF LIVE BIRTHS AND INFANT DEATHS INCLUDED IN STUDY
ACCORDING TO PLACE OF RESIDENCE
b u ttonw ood
park
n
/
□□□
Precinct of
residence
The City.
Total live
births
Infant
deaths
_2.587.
□ □ □ □ □ □
K EY
Precinct I . . _____469_______ 65
2 -._ — 2 9 3 ~ ____ 52
3
_I90_______ 24
4
_70________ 2
_104-___
10
5
6
_7 6 ________ 7
7______ 4 4 ________ 6
_20_______ 3
8
9
_5 9 ________ 5
_3 3 ________ 5
10
II._____ 4 5 ________ 7
12J_____ 5 4 ________ 3
13_____ 227________38
_4 8 ________ 2
14
15
_6 5 ________ 6
l6 .-_ _ .2 4 3 ______ 21
17 ____ 3 0 9 _______ 54
18
________2 3 8 - - — ..2 7
Cotton m ills ...— P
W a rd Boundaries
Precinct Boundarie s
~7,
la r n r H I
n
r
n
P" 00
I
a a a a 1 11
oiir-1^ 9 Di=:3S E P
-j
Q H D Q
.J
m
T
m
i
e d
n
n
a
J Ua
II
7
CO
- HEW
_ _
p a a E
S ! f ? K S
JL
,,J 3 D H
E 3 Ö C
B
c L
□ E Z D C Z IH h B B S
S iS fiB
/
Infant deaths____ •
J I B B a
UOOC
S od ^ -CaaauOOO
□ E q o a g n a -
infant survivals. ..o
337
,
o a s i s
t in y
L OOÉ.n11
œ aCd
□ E
II
II
VQ/ftr
n r
II 11 :
II ~]|— *
II ~~ll-----—i r —
JL.
h
h
□ C
UC
\ jJ C
lo t
C H U trru
2
B
S
/
a\
q
DC
□ c
T
— U— LL-chwpvh
DC
U
n o r
JO
a
SOOgDoeoaomr;
SJ
15
H N £ T
i / 'S
/ i
16
c
y
ID.P
in n f f n
\
balmep*r'
/
/
/
/
U
/
/
/
154220°— 20.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(To face page 15.)
m
s
H A
n s:
»
S
H
N
E
■
tìSÉSÉàSssSÉ
-■■■'
i'.'lï ■'■s»Éá
^asssMasf
B
W W
I
g :■ ;
I ’ g
:. .
■
"
'
I .,
§1
;
J H
3’ I S¿ '- . *.Mtó§glP;
'
,&ë< o4
• ./,
Ä
• lilis
•>
H f l
&ÍR5
a ! ii
væ
?£?/
IB liB B
'
•
-
. ..
I 1
■
■r !
J g iffS
,
■
%K
M
T^á*8S&
w
SfSÉSSl
fe M Í I Í # ^ p ^ Í Í 3 # P ^ » Í li^ í
í. <
~ gpffi '■-> *Cf , »-
mmmmmsm
■mmmm
•;
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ANALYSIS OF FIN D IN G S.
INFANT MORTALITY RATE. •
The infant mortality rate for the selected group in New Bedford
for the year of t^T study was 130.3. Of 2,587 infants b om alive,
337 died before reaching the first birthday.
DISTRIBUTION BY PRECINCTS.
The distribution of births and deaths in the wards and precincts in
New Bedford is shown in the spot map, and the infant mortality
rates for the different precincts are given in Table II. Precincts 1,
2, 3, 13? and 17 all have high rates, precinct 2 having the highest
rate in the city, 177.5. This analysis b y precincts shows the area in
which the infant mortality problem in New Bedford was most serious.
It should be mentioned that since the study was made the ward and
precinct lines have been changed; the wards and precincts discussed
and shown on the map refer to those existing at the time of the study.
T a b l e I I . — Live births during selected year, infant deaths, and infant mortality rate,
by district and precinct o f residence.a
District or precinct of residence.
The city.....................................................
“ Unfavorable” area........................................................
Precinct 1...............................................................
Precinct 2...............................................................
Precinct 3 . . . . . . .................................................
Precinct 13.............................................................
Precinct 17..........................................................
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.&
2 587
1 48$
233
190
“ Favorable” area............................................................
Precinct 4............................................................
Precinct 5...........'.........'...............................................
Precinct 6..................................................................
Precinct 7.........................................................................
Precinct 8......................................................................
Precinct 9 .........................................................................
Precinct 10....................................................................
Precinct 11.......................... .........................................
Precinct 12....................................................................
Precinct 14.................................................................
Precinct 15.......................................................
Precinct 16....................................................
Precinct 18.......................................................
a
o
70
45
238
21
Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time of the study.
Not shown where base is less than 100.
THE “ UNFAVORABLE” AREA.
The five precincts designated as the “ unfavorable” area lie on the
river front, the first three grouped together in the northern part of
the city and the other two in the southern part. All are in the cottonmill section. Within this area were found 57 per cent of all live
15
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
16
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
births included in the study and 69 per cent of the deaths in this group;
the infant mortality rate was 156.6 compared with 94.6 for the rest
of the city.
.
Of course, not- all parts of these precincts had unfavorable condi
tions, as, for example, the northern part of precinct l , 1 which was
almost rural in character; nor, on the other handagjhd these precincts
include all the sections where conditions wer^unfavorable. The
precinct boundary lines were merely the most convenient limits to
adopt.
Of the infants b om in the “ unfavorable” area as thus defined, fourfifths had foreign-bom mothers, the largest group being the Portu
guese white. Two-thirds of all the infants of Portuguese mothers
were found in this area, three-fourths of all the infants of FrenchCanadian mothers, and seven-eighths of all those of Polish'mothers.
Precincts 1, 2, and 3,1 constituting ward l ,1 lie along the Acushnet
River at the northern end of the city. Practically every nationality
represented in the city is found in this ward, including native Amer
icans, French Canadians, Portuguese, Poles, English, Irish, Hebrews,
Italians, Greeks, Turks, and Syrians. Of one section of this ward it
was said that “ one hears no English spoken on the streets here; the
French-Canadian children play in the French language and the
Portuguese children in Portuguese.” Sixty-eight per cent of the
infants of French-Canadian mothers in the study lived in ward l,1
also 76 per cent of the infants of Polish mothers, and nearly 25 per cent
of the infants of Portuguese mothers. A long-established FrenchCanadian colony was located in this ward. This group of families
had its separate business center and its own local French-Canadian
churches, parochial schools, doctors, and midwives. - The families
of this group were generally living in modest but comfortable and
well-kept homes; many were attempting to purchase their own homes.
The largest Polish group of the city also is located in this ward;
most of these families worked in the mills, although a number were
engaged in small businesses, such as grocery stores, saloons, or lunch
rooms. Many of the Polish women took in boarders on the basis of
$2.50 or $3 a month each for sleeping space and the services of the
landlady as cook and laundress. A day nursery for babies whose
parents worked in the mill was maintained in the neighborhood and
was largely patronized by Polish women. The ward was almost
entirely populated b y working people, largely cotton-mill operatives.
The majority of the families lived in two- to six-family frame tene
ment buildings; the three-family buildings predominated. Single
family cottages were rare. In one section of the ward a number of
old and gloomy corporation houses were well filled. On business
i Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time of the study.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
17
streets, wooden block houses in bad repair, with stores on the ground
floor and tenements above, were not uncommon. A t the time of
the study, tenement rents in this ward averaged from $2 to $4.25 a
week for four- or five-room flats, generally with a toilet, which, how
ever, was often not in the apartment but in the entry or cellar.
In precinct 131 lived almost the entire colony of Portuguese
Negroes or “ Bravas” from the Cape Verde Islands, also 17 per cent
of the Portuguese families included in this study, and a large Jewish
colony. This was an old section of the city; the two-family house
seemed to predominate, though the one-family houpe was sometimes
found. Housing had changed with the changes of the population in
this neighborhood; as the native-American families left, their onefamily dwellings were made over into two- and three-family dwellings
for the Portuguese Negroes, each family having one floor.
Precinct 171 had two almost distinct sections: The one bordering
the Acushnet River was inhabited almost entirely b y Portuguese,
with a few Poles and Jews; and in the other, the newer part, extending
to Clarks Cove, lived a number of French Canadians, a few English,
and a few Poles and Portuguese. Mill work was the most common
occupation for the men, and also many of the women worked in the
mills. A number of the Portuguese were fishermen, generally
quahog diggers. Few mothers in the Portuguese colony spoke
English. A number of mill blocks were located in this district; they
were old and in bad repair, with no attempt b y builder, owner, or
tenant to make them attractive.2 The predominating type of house
was the three-family tenement; some had been remodeled from older,
more pretentious homes. As a rule toilets were located in the entry
or cellar.
The unfavorable area included most of the colonies of the different
foreign nationalities and most of the bad living conditions in the
city. The inhabitants of these districts were predominantly mill
workers; many of the women were gainfully employed. In the later
analysis the effect of factors suggested b y the description o f these
conditions will be discussed in detail.3
NATIONALITY.
Of the total population of New Bedford in 1910, 44 per cent were
foreign-bom white, 34 per cent native white of foreign or mixed parent
age, and only 19 per cent native white of native parentage.
The two largest nationality groups in 1910 were the French Cana
dian and the English, the former group constituting 28 per cent of the
i Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time of the study.
* One group of these mill tenements has since been tom down
8 See p. 55.
154220°— 20------ 2
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
18
IN F A N T MOKTALITY.
foreign-born population, and the latter 22 per cent« The Portuguese
ranked next in number, comprising 9 per cent of the foreign bom .
The other groups were smaller in number. It was interesting to note
how the groups kept themselves together in compact colonies, each
speaking its own language. The French-Canadian and the Portu
guese, groups were located in the ^so-called “ unfavorable” area.
Besides these may be noted a group of Italians who lived near the
river north of the center of the town, between the railroad station
and the mills, and a small colony of Greeks who were settled near the
river to the north of the Italian colony.
The industrial development of New Bedford played a large part in
determining the character of the foreign-bom population. During
the days of the prosperity of the whaling industry, prior to 1880, a
number of Portuguese immigrants came from the Azores and
gradually formed a permanent colony which at the time of the
study was the most important Portuguese center in the United
States. The growth of the textile industry proved a great attractive
force for immigration. When the cotton mills were established many
skilled English workers were brought to New Bedford. Later, with
the introduction of new machinery, French Canadians came in re
sponse to the demand for unskilled labor; these were followed b y a
Polish immigration and more recently by large numbers of Portu
guese.
Each nationality group has its own peculiar customs of infant
feeding and of infant care, its superstitions and its preferences in the
employment of physicians or midwives. In many cases the infant
mortality rate for a particular nationality may be influenced by the
conditions of the different sections of the city in which the group
lives. The infant mortality rates according to nationality of the
mother are shown in Table III.
T a b l e I I I .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to nationality o f mother.
Total
births.
Nationality of mother.
Foreign-born mothers..................................
English...................................................
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Stillbirths.
Infant
mortality
Per cent
rate.® Number. of total
births.«
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
75
2.8
753
1,909
729
1,858
79
258
108.4
138.9
24
51
3.2
2.7
685
415
226
223
76
70
60
27
126
1
667
407
218
217
71
68
59
27
124
134
47
22
26
7
3
4
•2
13
200.9
115.5
100.9
119.8
18
8
8
6
5
2
1
2.6
1.9
3.5
2.7
104.8
2
1
1.6
Not shown where base is less than 100..
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
19
The highest infant mortality rate was 200.9 for the Portuguese
white. This group was by far the largest of the foreign nationality
groups represented among the births in the study, having 36 per cent
of all the infants of foreign-bom mothers included.
The Poles also had a relatively high rate of 119.8; they constituted
one of the smaller groups. The French-Canadian group was second
in size and showed a mortality of 115.5, a rate in sharp contrast to
the figure of 224.7 found for infants of French-Canadian mothers in
Manchester. The difference in these figures is the more difficult to
explain, since both cities are textile centers and in both a large pro
portion of the French-Canadian mothers worked in the mills. The
New Bedford group represented an earlier immigration, and therefore
many have already adopted American customs.
The English formed the group next in size, with an infant mortality
rate of 100.9. The rate for the British and Irish group, that is the
English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh combined, was 87.4.
It appears from this analysis of infant mortality rates by national
ity that the highest rates were found in certain foreign-bom groups
and especially among the Portuguese. The greater part of the Portu
guese in New Bedford were of recent immigration; a large number
came from the Azores; more recently some have come from Lisbon
and other places in Portugal. The small number of Portuguese who
came to New Bedford during the days when the city was the center
for the whaling industry had become part of the community, their chil
dren and grandchildren taking an active part in the life of the city.
There was also a group of Portuguese Negroes, commonly known
as “ Bravas,” taking this name from the island of Brava of the Cape
Verde group, from which most of them came.
Other studies of infant mortality have shown high rates for the
Portuguese. For example, the study made by Dr. Louis I. Dublin in
Fall R iver1 showed an infant mortality rate for this group of 299, in
contrast with the rate of 153 for infants of native mothers, of 172 for
infants of Canadian mothers, and of 200 for all others.
The question arises in this connection whether the differences in
rates for the different nationalities were due to differences affecting
the baby before birth, care of the baby, methods of feeding, or the
economic and social conditions of life. The importance of these sev
eral factors will be pointed out in the subsequent analysis.
LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES.
The length of residence of the mothers in this country may influence
infant mortality rates because of gradual adoption of American cus
toms or of gradual betterment of economic position. In General
1 Dublin, Louis I. Infant mortality in Fall River, Mass.: A survey of the mortality among 833 infants
bom in June, July, and August, 1913. American Statistical Association, June, 1915.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INFANT MORTALITY.
20
Table 2 the infants of foreign-born mothers are classified according
to the number of years the mother had lived in this country. For
the Portuguese-white group the infant mortality rate decreased in a
striking manner as the length of residence increased. Where the
residence was less than three years, the infant mortality rate was 283,
while the infants whose mothers had lived here from 12 to 15 years
had a mortality rate of only 95. This difference according to length
of residence, however, does not appear so marked for the infants of
mothers of other foreign nationalities. For the other groups the
rates fluctuate considerably; but here, too, the lowest rates were for
the groups in which the mothers had resided from 12 to 15 years in
this country.
LITERACY AND ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH.
The proportion of illiterate mothers in this study was unusually
high. Of the total of 2,662 births, 740 were to mothers who were
illiterate. One in every four of the mothers in this study was unable
to read or write in any language. The infant mortality rates for the
two groups showed a wide difference; for the group of illiterate
mothers it was 188, contrasted with 107 for infants whose mothers
were literate. (See Table IV.)
T a b l e I V .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths ', according to literacy o f mother.
\
Stillbirths.
Literacy of mother.®
All mothers.........................................
Total
births.
2,662
1,910
740
12
Live
births.
2,687
1,858
718
11
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
Per cent
rate.6
Number. total of
births.i>
337
130.3
75
2.8
199
135
3
107.1
188.0
52
22
1
2.7
3.0
Persons who can read and write in any language are reported literate.
Not shown where base is less than 100.
c Including 26 births to native mothers.
a
b
The proportion of mothers unable to speak English was greater
than the proportion of mothers unable to read and write. Of the
total number of births, 1,006, or 38 per cent, were to mothers who
were unable to speak English. Eliminating the English-speaking
nationalities, the infant mortality rate for the remainder of the for
eign-born group was 149.5; for those infants whose mothers were able
to speak English, 97.4, as against 180.4 for those whose mothers could
not speak English. Among the Portuguese were 571 infants whose
mothers were unable to speak English; for these the infant mortality
rate was 224.8. For those whose mothers were able to speak English
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
21
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
the mortality rate was only 82.9. Among the latter were included
infants of mothers of the earlier immigration, among whom the pro
cesses of assimilation had progressed much further. (See Table V.)
In the French-Canadian group the infant mortality rate for those
whose mothers could speak English was higher than for those who
had non-English-speaking mothers, the rates being, respectively,
121.7 and 104.2. Among the other foreign bom the rates were
70.9 and 127, respectively.
T a b l e V .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and -per cent of
stillbirths, according to nationality o f mother and her ability to speak English.
Stillbirths.
Ability of mother to speak English and nationality
o f mother.
Infant
Total
Live Infant mor
births. births. deaths. tality
rate.«
Num
ber.
Per
cent of
total
births.®
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
75
2.8
Able to speak English... . ..................
TJnable to speak English 6...................
Not reported............................. . ; . . .
1,655
1,006
1
1,605
981
1
159
177
1
99.1
180.4
60
25
3.0
2.5
'Foreign-tom m o t h e r s ....... .
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
51
2.7
English-speaking nationalities............
Nan-Engush-speabing nationalities...
Able to speak English...................
Unable to speak English....... .
Not reported......................
323
1,586
601
984
1
313
1,545
585
959
1
27
231
67
173
1
86.3
149/5
97.4
180.4
10
41
16
25
3.1
2.6
2.7
2.5
All mothers............... ■;..........;
French-Canadian mothers..
415
407
47
115.5
8
1.9
Able to speak English............
Unable to speak English.......
268
147
263
144
32
15
121.7
104.2
5
3
1.9
2.0
Portuguese mothers c ........
761
738
141
191.1
23
3.0
Able to speak English............
Unable to'speak English.......
Not reported...........................
189
571
1
181
556
1
15
125
1
82.9
224.8
8
15
4.2
2.6
Other foreign-bom mothers
410
400
43
107.5
10
2.4
Able to speak English.. . . . . . .
Unable to speak English.......
144
266
141
259
10
33
70.9
127.4
3
7
2.1
2.6
Not shown where base is less than 100.
Including 22 births to native mothers.
c Including 76 births to Portuguese-Negro mothers, only 23 of whom were able to speak English.
a
b
Of the total births to illiterate foreign-born mothers, 584, or 79.3
per cent, were to mothers who could not speak English. These
mothers were doubly handicapped; they were cut off from the sources
of information open to literate mothers, and in a foreign country
were forced to rely almost wholly upon the customs and traditions
brought with them and upon whatever assistance they could gain
from their countrymen. The infant mortality rate for the 566 liveborn infants in this group was 203. While these factors— illiteracy
and inability to speak English— are perhaps not in every case asso
ciated with ignorance of the essentials of infant care, yet they make
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
22
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
it difficult, if not impossible, for the mothers to take advantage of the
medical and social resources of the community or of printed instruc
tions as to the proper methods of caring for their infants.
CAUSE OF DEATH.
The immediate cause of death is certified by the physician who
signs the death certificate. Frequently these causes, such as gastric
and intestinal diseases or diseases peculiar to early infancy, offer
clews to the ultimate causes, such as improper feeding, lack of care of
the mother diming pregnancy, employment of the mother, or means
insufficient to provide proper care for the infant. Methods of pre
vention, to be effective, of course must take ultimate causes into
account.
Most of the infant deaths can be grouped into three main classes,
viz, gastric and intestinal diseases, respiratory diseases, and causes
peculiar to early infancy. The first group— gastric and intestinal
diseases— caused the greatest loss of life among infants in this study,
being responsible for 37.1 per cent of the total deaths. Twenty-two
per cent were from causes peculiar to early infancy, 21 per cent from
the principal respiratory diseases, and the remaining 20 per cent
were ascribed to malformations, epidemic diseases, diseases ill defined
and unknown, and all other causes. (See Table V I.)
T a b l e V I . a— Number and per cent distribution o f deaths among infants bom in the selected
year, by cause o f death.
Infant deaths.
Causes of death.
a
Per cent
Number. distribu
tion.
337
100.0
125
72
12
75
37.1
21.4
3.6
22.3
25
40
10
7.4
11.9
3.0
23
7
23
6.8
2.1
6.8
General Table 3.
GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL DISEASES.
The large percentage of deaths from gastric and intestinal diseases,
37 per cent, was much higher than the percentages either for the
State of Massachusetts or for the death-registration area 1 of the
1 General Table 4.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
23
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
United States. In the State only 28 per cent of the infant deaths in
1913 and 1914 1 were from this cause, while in the registration area
the percentage was only 24.
It would he more significant to compare the infant mortality rates
from different diseases. The mortality rates from gastric and in
testinal diseases for cities studied by the Children’s Bureau is shown
in Table VII. It appears that both in Manchester and in New Bedford’
the infant mortality rates from gastric and intestinal diseases were
unusually high, and relatively high in Johnstown, while for Brockton
and Saginaw the rates were very low. The general infant mortality
rates for Manchester, Johnstown, and New Bedford were also high.
Where the conditions favored high mortality from gastric and in
testinal diseases the general infant mortality rate appeared to be
high also.
T a b l e V I I .— Infant mortality rates fo r specified cities, by cause o f death.
Cause of death.
All
cities.
New
Bedford.
Johns
town.
Man
chester.
Saginaw.
Brock
ton.
. All causes............................................
127.0
130.3
134.0
165.0
84.6
96.7
Gastric and intestinal diseases....................
Respiratory diseases.....................................
Malformations...................................... .......
Early infancy....... .......................................
37.8
22.8
5.3
35.5
48.3
27.8
4.6
29.0
32.8
26.7
3.4
39.6
63.3
26.2
9.0
39.6
8.2
10.2
4.1
37.7
12.4
13.2
5.0
37.2
Premature birth....................................
Congenital debility................................
Injuries at birth.....................................
12.9
19.2
3.3
9.7
15.5
3.9
, 14.4
20.5
4.8
14.7
24.3
.6
12.2
24.5
1.0
16.5
14.9
5.8
Epidemic diseases.........................................
Diseases ill defined or unknown.................
All other causes............................................
7.7
5.0
12.9
8.9
2.7
8.9
11.6
7.5
12.3
3.2
7.0
16.6
5.1
4.1
15.3
8.3
5.0
15.7
The analysis of the mortality rates for infants of native and of
foreign mothers indicates that much of the difference in the rates is
to be attributed to mortality from gastric and intestinal diseases.
The rate from these causes for the former group was 31.6, as con
trasted with 54.9 for the latter. The rate for the foreign-bom group
was thus almost one and three-fourths that for the native. The
analysis by nationality shows that the Portuguese white with a rate
of 101.9 were almost entirely responsible for this difference. In this
group 1 baby in every 10 born alive died from these causes. For all
other foreign born the rate was comparable with the rate for infants
of native mothers— indeed, somewhat lower. In these groups only
1 death in every 35 live births occurred from these causes. (See
Table V III.)
1 The percentages were computed from the figures for 1913 and 1914, the years in which the deaths of
nfants included in this study occurred.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
24
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e V I I I .°— Mortality rates fo r infants o f mothers o f specified nationality, by cause o f
death.
Infant mortality rates.
Foreign mothers.
Cause of death.
Native
All
mothers. mothers.
Total.
Portu
guese
white.
French
Cana
dian.
All
other.
All causes............................................
130.3
108.4
138.9
200.9
115.5
98.2
Gastric and intestinal diseases....................
Respiratory diseases.....................................
Malformations...............................................
Early infancy................................................
48.3
27.8
4.6
29.0
31.6
17.8
6.9
32.9
54.9
31.8
3.8
27.4
101.9
51.0
1.5
21.0
29.5
17.2
7.4
41.8
28.1
23.0
3.8
25.5
Premature birth....................................
Congenital debility................................
Injuries at birth.....................................
9.7
15.5
8.9
9.6
19.2
4.1
9.7
14.0
8.8
1.5
13.5
6.0
24.6
14.7
2.5
8.9
14.0
2.6
Epidemic diseases.........................................
Diseases ill defined or unknown.................
All other causes............................................
8.9
2.7
8.9
4.1
5.5
9.6
10.8
1.6
8.6
15.0
1.5
9.0
7.4
2.5
9.8
8.9
1.3
7.7
a
General Table 3.
The experience of many cities has proved that infant deaths from
gastric and intestinal diseases are largely preventable. The high
mortality from these diseases has been markedly reduced b y making
available to mothers, through the employment of public-health
nurses and the establishment of infant-welfare centers, information
as to proper methods of feeding and caring for babies; and by the
improvement of the milk supply.
RESPIRATORY DISEASES.
In contrast with Brockton and Saginaw, New Bedford shows an
unusually high infant mortality rate from respiratory diseases,
though both Johnstown and Manchester had high rates. The rates
among foreign b om for this group of diseases were nearly twice as
high as among native. The Portuguese had the highest rate, prac
tically three times the rate for the native group.
CAUSES PECULIAR TO EARLY INFANCY.
The specific rate from causes peculiar to early infancy did not vary
greatly in the different cities studied by the bureau, but it was some
what lower in New Bedford than in any of the other cities.
The mortality from diseases of early infancy was higher in the
native than in the foreign-bom group, the rates being 32.9 and 27.4,
respectively. Among the French Canadians the rate from diseases
of early infancy was highest, 41.8. The rate among the Portuguese
white was unusually low, only 21.
COMPARISON OF “ UNFAVORABLE” AREA WITH THE REST OF THE CITY.
An analysis of the death rates from the different groups of causes
for the “ unfavorable’7 area and for the rest of the city shows the
causes to which the excessive mortality of the selected precincts is
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Chart II.— D E A T H S F R O M
Number.
R E S P I R A T O R Y A N D G A S T R IC A N D
BY C A L E N D A R M O N T H S .
•
Gastric and intestinal.
Respiratory.
24-2
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
I N T E S T I N A L D IS EA SE S
25
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
*
to be attributed. The rate from causes peculiar to early infancy was
approximately the same as for the rest of the city. The rates for
both gastric and intestinal and respiratory diseases, however, were
over twice as high as for the rest of the city. The causes of these
unfavorable conditions must be sought in the kind of care given to
the infants, in the kind of feeding, and also in part in the customs of
the mothers, and in the surroundings in which they live. (See Table
IX .)
T a b l e I X .— Deaths among infants horn in selected year in and outside o f “ unfavorable’1
area, and infant mortality rates, by cause o f death.a
Deaths among infants bora in—
Cause of death.
“ Unfavorable” area.
Rest of city.
Infant
Infant
Number. mortality Number. mortality
rate.
rate.
Total......................
Gastric and intestinal........................
Respiratory..........................
Malformations.......................
Early infancy...........................
Epidemic diseases...........................
Diseases ill defined or unknown..............
All other...........................
a
233
156.6
104
94.0
95
54
7
43
17
2
15
63.8
36.3
4.7
28.9
11.4
1.3
10.1
30
18
5
32
6
5
8
27.3
16.4
4.5
29.1
5.5
4.5
7.3
Derived from General Table 7.
CAUSE OF DEATH, BY CALENDAR MONTHS.
As uniformly observed in the earlier studies of infant mortality
made b y the bureau, there was a large increase of deaths from gas
tric and intestinal causes during the hot months, 68 per cent of
these deaths occurring during July, August, and September. The
deaths from respiratory diseases occurred chiefly during the winter
months, although a few deaths from this cause occurred in every
month except August. The number of deaths from gastric and
intestinal diseases and from respiratory diseases by calendar month
of death is shown in Chart II.1
AGE AT DEATH.
It is a well-known fact that in the early days of a baby’s life the
chances of survival are least. In the registration area, in 1913, 43
per cent of all infant deaths occurred under the age of 1 month.2
The causes of death most frequent at this time are congenital debility,
injuries at birth, and premature birth, which are usually grouped'
under the caption: “ Causes peculiar to early infancy.”
The relatively high percentage of deaths in New Bedford in the
first few weeks of life is shown in Table X .
1 General Table 5.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2U. S. Bureau of the Census, Mortality Statistics, 1913.
26
IN F A N T MOBTALITY.
T a b l e X .— Number and per cent distribution o f deaths among infants bom in selected
year, by age at death.
Infant deaths.
Age at death.
••
>
Per cent
Number. distribu-.
tion.
-
2 weeks but less than 1 month.....................................................................................
337
100.0
102
30.3
41
9
4
15
15
18
12.2
2.7
1.2
4.5
4.5
5.3
32
24
79
63
37
9.5
7.1
23.4
18.7
11.0
A comparison between New Bedford and the cities previously
studied b y the Children’s Bureau for percentage of deaths at various
ages is presented in Table X L
T a b l e X I . — Per cent distribution o f deaths among infants born in specified cities during
selected periods, by age at death.
Age at death.
All
cities.
New
Bedford.
Johns
town.
Man
chester. Saginaw.
Brock
ton.
All ages................................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Less than 1 month........................................
35.5
30.3
37.8
27.9
56.6
48.7
Less than 1 day......................................
1 day but less than 2.............................
2 days but less than 3 ............................
3 days but less than 7............................
1 week but less than 2...........................
2 weeks but less than 1 month..............
11.8
2.9
2.2
5.8
5.0
7.8
12.2
2.7
1.2
4.5
4.6
5.3
14.3
1.0
2.0
5.6
7.1
7.7
6.6
2.3
3.1
5.8
3.9
6.2
8.4
12.0
2.4
8.4
9.6
15.7
20.5
1.7
3.4
7.7
2.6
12.8
1 month but less than 2 ...............................
2 months but less than 3..............................
3 months but less than 6 ..............................
6 months but less than 9 ..............................
9 months but less than 12............................
9.3
7.8
20.7
16.2
10.6
9.5
7.1
23.4
18.7
11.0
9.2
8.2
21.4
15.8
7» 7
9.3
9.3
22.1
19.0
12.4
10.8
3.6
12.0
7.2
9.6
7.7
8.5
14.5
10.3
10.3
>
100.0
All the other cities shown had a higher mortality from causes
peculiar to early infancy than New Bedford.
The percentages of deaths under 1 month of age for four cities—
Manchester, Saginaw, Brockton, and New Bedford— are shown in
Chart III.
The cities with large native populations had large percentages of
deaths at early ages, while the cities with large foreign-bom elements
had relatively smaller percentages: In Saginaw, a city of predom
inantly native population, over half the infant deaths occurred under
1 month of age; Brockton, also with a large majority of native moth-
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
26-1
Chart I I I.— P E R C E N T A G E O F D E A T H S U N D E R 1 M O N T H O F A G E IN T H E FO UR C IT IE S S P E C IF IE D .
Manchester,
N. H.
¿ 7.9
Brocton,
Mass.
4-6.7
Saginaw,
56.6
Mich.
New Bedford,
Mass.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
30.3
Chart IV .__R E L A T IV E M O R T A L IT Y D U R IN G F IR S T Y E A R O F L IF E FO R M A N C H E S T E R ,
N E W B E D F O R D , A N D T H E R E G IS T R A T IO N S T A T E S IN 1910.
cq
>-i
©
a
p
■4-3
CO
Ut
©
U
©
d
d
+3
,P
•4-3
d
.0
»O
(-4
'S
d
' P
&
CO
co
t-
00
u*
Ut
Ut
©
*0
§
3
fiP
ficPo
+3
»©
05
f©
-4
*0
©
'O
§
3
43
p
.P
i-
43
p
rP
W
Registration area.
Manchester, N.
. —
26-2
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
H.
_ ----- New Bedford, Mass.
o
tH
u
©
$
4
©
3
p
p
p
43
.p
05
1 lbut under 12
Rate.
27
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
ers, had a high percentage of deaths in early infancy; Manchester,
with a very large foreign population, had the lowest percentage of
deaths under 1 month.
These percentages, of course, simply reflect the distribution of the
causes of death; the heavy mortality from gastric and intestinal
diseases in Manchester, for example, produces a high proportion of
deaths late in infancy, since deaths from these diseases occur rela
tively late in the first year of life. But they do serve to indicate,
also, the direction in which preventive work should be especially
directed in the different cities. In the cities with large foreign-born
populations, the most urgent need is for infant-welfare stations to
teach proper care of babies during infancy; while in cities with pre
ponderantly native population, the teaching of the essentials of pre
natal care is relatively more important.
In the volume of United States Life Tables recently published by
the Bureau of the Census, mortality rates are given for each month
of life based on figures of deaths and births in the birth-registration
area in 1910. These rates are for large groups and the curve of
mortality was smoothed by mathematical processes. According to
these figures the mortality rate shows a decline for each month from
the first to the twelfth. The rates for New Bedford by months
under 1 year show more fluctuation, due to the comparatively small
numbers involved, but the tendency is the same as that in the curve
for the registration area. The smooth curve given by the census
figures and the irregular ones resulting from the New Bedford and
Manchester figures are shown in Chart IV.
STILLBIRTHS.
A stillbirth in this study is defined as a dead-bom issue, resulting
from seven or more months’ gestation. If the period of gestation
was reported as less than seven months, the birth, even though reg
istered as a stillbirth, was classed as a miscarriage and as such, ex
cluded from the study.
The number of stillbirths included was 75, giving a stillbirth rate,
in comparison to the total of 2,662 live and stillbirths, of 2.8 per cent.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER CITIES.
The cities previously studied by the Children’s Bureau in its infant
mortality investigations had considerably higher stillbirth rates, as
shown in the following statement:
New Bedford
Brockton.......
Saginaw.........
Johnstown___
Manchester...
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2. 8
3.0
3.3
4 .5
4 .8
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
28
STILLBIRTH RATES AND NATIONALITY.
Native mothers had a larger proportion of stillbirths than foreignb o m mothers, the rates being, respectively, 3.2 and 2.7. For the
racial groups large enough to be .significant the highest rate was for
the English, 3.5; the lowest for the French Canadian, only 1.9: the
Portuguese white had a rate of 2.6.1
STILLBIRTH RATES AND OTHER FACTORS.
The stillbirth rate for males was somewhat in excess of that for
females, the rates being 2.9 and 2.7, respectively. This excess for
males was due to the comparatively high stillbirth rate of 4 for male
births to native mothers, while for female births in the same group
the rate was only 2.4.2
The stillbirth rate for first-bom children (3.8) was higher than
that for births of later order up to the seventh-bom (5.5). For the
fourth-bom child the stillbirth rate (0.6) was almost negligible.3
High stillbirth rates were found for mothers under 20 years of age
(3.6) and for mothers of 30-39 (3,7); for mothers of 40 and over, the
rate was highest (6.7). In the other age groups the rates were relativelylow.4
Of the 152 twins and triplets born either during the selected year
or previously to the mothers included in the study, 15 were stillbirths,
giving a stillbirth rate of 9.9 per cent. This rate is very much higher
than the rate of 2.7 for single births.
SEX.
The number of male infants bom in New Bedford during the se
lected year was only slightly in excess of the number of female, the
figures being 1,340 and 1,322, respectively. The infant mortality
rate was somewhat greater for male than for female, 139.9 for male,
as contrasted with 120.5 for female infants. (See Table X II.)
T
a b l e
X I I .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and -per
» .•tm * . r
__ nfi/tt*
//iM # nann annia'iYii'ii ft f 'ffi.ftih.PT .
Sex of infant and nativity of mother.
All mothers.........................................
Total
births. .
2,662
1,340
1,322
Native mothers......................................
Foreign-bom mothers. . : — ..............
Female...........................................................
1 See Table III, p. 18.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Live
births.
2,587
1,301
1,286
Stillbirths.
Infant
Infant mortality
Per cent
deaths.
Number. of total
rate.
births.
130.3
75
2.8
182
155
139.9
120.5
39
36
2.9
2.7
337
753
729
79
108.4
24
3.2
376
377
361
368
41
38
113.6
103.3
15
9
4.0
2.4
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
61
2.7
150.0
127.5
24
2.5
2.9
964
945
a See Table X II.
940
918
141
117
1See Table X IV.
*
See Table XI.
29
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
AGE OF MOTHER.
The infant mortality rate for the infants of mothers aged 25 to 29
at the time of the baby’s birth was the lowest for any age group— 114.
The infants of mothers under 20 had the extremely high rate of 259.3*
A large proportion of first births among these births to young mothers
may influence the rate, coupled with the fact that the mortality
among second and third births that occur to mothers below the age
of 20 years is likely to be excessive on account of too short intervals
between the successive births. The largest number of births was to
mothers in the age group 25 to 29, for which'the mortality rate was
lowest. (See Table X III.)
T a b l e X I I I .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and -per
cent o f stillbirths, according to age o f mother at birth o f infant.
Total
births.
Age of mother.
20 to 24..........................................................
25 to 29..........................................................
30 to 39..........................................................
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Stillbirths.
Infant
Per cent
mortality
Number of total
rate.
births.
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
75
2.8
112
737
853
840
120
108
725
833
809
112
28
93
95
105
16
259.3
128.3
114.0
129.8
142.9
4
12
20
31
8
3.6
1.6
2.3
3.7
6.7
ORDER OF BIRTH.
Another physical factor which undoubtedly influences infant mor
tality is the order of birth. According to the results of this study the
third child had the best chance o f survival and the second the next
best chance. The infant mortality rate for first and fourth born
children was comparatively high, and the rates for sixth, seventh,
and later bom children were very high.
The infant mortality rate for first-born children of native mothers
was comparatively low— only 81— while that for first-born children of
foreign-bom mothers was 166.2.
T a b l e X I Y .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to number in order o f birth.
Stillbirths.
Number in order of birth.
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.
Total.
Per cent
of total
births.
All mothers....... .................................
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
76
2.8
First..............................................................
Second...........................................................
Third.............................................................
Fourth........................................................
Fifth..............................................................
Sixth.............................................................
Seventh.....................................................
Eighth and later..........................................
638
542
416
338
218
141
109
260
614
531
407
336
212
138
103
246
81
58
42
45
24
23
17
47
131.9
109.2
103.2
133.9
113.2
166.7
165.0
191.1
24
11
9
2
6
3
6
14
3.8
2.0
2.2
0.6
2.8
2.1
5.5
5.4
154220°— 20----- 3
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN FA N T MORTALITY.
30
PLURAL BIRTHS.
Mothers of the infants born in the selected year had, including births
previous to the selected year, a total of 9,340 births.1 Among these
were 152 twins and triplets— 73 sets of twins and 2 sets of triplets.
One in every 61 births was a plural birth. A classification of plural
births according to age of mother indicates that the older mothers
were more likely to have plural births than the younger mothers. The
per cent of infants who were twins and triplets among the total infants
born to mothers of the various age groups increased from less than 1
per cent for mothers under 20 to 6 per cent for mothers over 40.
Among these plural births were 137 live-born twins and triplets;
nearly half these (68) died during the first year of life, giving an in
fant mortality rate for plural births of 496.4. The mortality rate
among plural births was between three and four times as high as
among single births.
ATTENDANCE AT BIRTH.
Physicians were in attendance at 72.7 per cent of the births of in
fants included in the New Bedford study; midwives in 23.1 per cent;
and relatives, friends, or neighbors in the remaining eases, 4.2 per
cent. Of the confinements attended by physicians 115, or 4.3 per cent,
occurred in hospitals. Foreign-born mothers employed midwives to a
much greater extent than native mothers, influenced perhaps b y the
customs of the Old World countries from which they came, where mid
wives are more commonly employed. (See Table X V .)
T a b l e X V .— Number and per cent distribution o f births in selected year to mothers o f speci
fied nativity, according to attendant at birth.
Total births.
Attendant at birth.
Births to native
mothers.
/
Births to foreignborn mothers.
Per cent
Per cent
Per cent
Number. distribu Number. distribu Number. distribu
tion.
tion.
tion.
All classes...........................................
2,662
100.0
753
100.0
1,909
100.0
Physician......................................................
Midwife.........................................................
Other, none, or not reported.......................
1,934
615
113
72.7
23.1
4.2
698
42
13
92.7
5.6
1.7
1,236
573
100
64.7
30.0
5.2
.
In the foreign-born group 30 per cent of the births were to mothers
employing midwives in confinement, while in the native group only
5.6 per cent were to mothers having the same kind of attendant.
In Waterbury, where there was a large proportion of foreign-born
mothers, 43.4 per cent of the births to foreign-born mothers were to
1 General Table 12.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
31
those employing midwives ; while in Manchester, where the predom
inating foreign element was French Canadian, the percentage of births
to foreign-bom mothers having midwives was only 13.6 per cent of all
births to foreign-born mothers.
In New Bedford the racial group which had the largest percentage
of births attended by midwives was the Portuguese white, with 56.8
per cent; then followed in order the Portuguese Negro, with little over
one-half; the Polish, slightly less than one-half; the English, with
about 11 per cent; the Irish, Scotch, and Welsh, the Jewish, and the
French Canadian with percentages practically negligible. The last
group had only 2 births attended by midwives out of a total of 415.
The reason for the employment of midwives by the non-Englishspeaking mothers was not, as might be supposed at first thought, solely
the desire to have an attendant who spoke their language, for in each
of the three large foreign groups— the Portuguese, the French
Canadian, and the Polish—were physicians of the same nationality.
Though many foreign-bom mothers did avail themselves of the services
of a physician of their own race, the preference of a large proportion
of mothers was for the midwife. This preference in many cases was
due partly to the lower charge made by the midwife, partly to her
practice of giving nursing care and assisting at the housework, but it
was due also to the traditions of the nationality group.
INFANT MORTALITY RATES, BY ATTENDANT AT BIRTH.
The infant mortality rate for infants of mothers who were attended
by midwives was 169.1; for infants whose mothers were attended
at confinement by physicians, 115.5. Of the latter group, infants
of mothers attended at home by physicians died at the rate of
117.9, while for those whose mothers had hospital care at confine
ment the rate was only 75.5.
HOSPITAL FACILITIES.
The hospital facilities for obstetrical cases in New Bedford con
sisted of four hospitals. The largest hospital had free wards accommo
dating 19 maternity cases; of course private rooms were to be had,
btxt they were out of the question for the majority of New Bedford
mothers, most of whom belonged to mill workers’ families. The
other hospitals had accommodations for about 12 maternity cases
each. For a city the size of New Bedford the free hospital facili
ties available were entirely inadequate according to modern health
standards.
MIDWIVES.
The Massachusetts law ignores the existence of midwives, except
in requiring the return of birth certificates for births attended by
them.1 A t the time this study was made more than 20 midwives
1 Laws of 1912, eh. 280, secs. 1 and 2.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
32
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
were practicing in New Bedford. The following excerpt from “ Midwives in Massachusetts/’ 1 a study made in 1909, would doubtless
have described the situation in 1913, though of course the number
practicing in the later year was somewhat larger:
In New Bedford we find 12 women all over 40 years of age and
three-fourths of them over 50 years of age, more than half of them
illiterate and all but 1 without any obstetrical education. All of
these women rendered rather more service to the mother than would
have been given b y a physician. Additional information showed
that only 5 of these women were caring for more than 50 cases a
year, while only 3 cared for 150 as a maximum. Their fees ranged
from $2 a case to $10 a week.
OTHER OR NO ATTENDANT.
One hundred and thirteen of the births in this study occurred
without attendance of either doctor or midwife. Five of these were
stillbirths. Thirteen of the births were to native mothers and 100
to foreign-born mothers. The attendant in 80 of these cases was the
husband, some other relative, a friend, or a neighbor; 32 had no at
tendant, and in 1 case the attendant was not reported.
PREVENTION OF OPHTHALMIA NEONATORUM.
On account of the danger of ophthalmia neonatorum resulting
from unskilled care of the baby at birth, cases of swollen, red, or
inflamed eyelids of newly born infants were required b y law to be
reported to the board of health. The municipal nurse would be sent
to cases thus reported and, if necessary, an oculist employed by the
board of health visited the case. Since the law became operative
and the board assumed the responsibility of caring for these infants,
the oculist employed b y the board has not lost a single case.2
On account of the large number of Portuguese immigrants a Portu
guese-speaking nurse was employed b y the board of health.
FEEDING*
The kind of feeding an infant receives during the early months of
his life is of great importance in determining his chance of survival.
Authorities are agreed that mother’s milk is the best food for infants.
Not only is artificial feeding dangerous to the life and health of the
infant, but differences in the methods of artificial feeding, in the
cleanliness of the milk, and in the care exercised in the preparation
of the food also affect the mortality rate. Artificial feeding with
clean milk properly modified to meet the requirements of the indi
vidual baby is not so harmful to the young infant as artificial feed
ing with milk not so modified.
1 Huntington, J.L .,M .D .: “ Midwives in Massachusetts,” in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol.
CLXVU , No. 16, pp. 642-548.
* In 1916 the oculist was made a regular officer of the board of health and paid for full-time work. Pre
viously he had been employed when necessary and compensated by fees.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
33
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
National and traditional customs and the gainful employment of
the mother influence the type of feeding; ignorance plays a large
part in the lack of care taken in the preparaion of artificial food.
Nor is the ill effect of improper food confined entirely to a higher
infant mortality rate. The rate is an index of the general health and
welfare of the children; the infants artificially fed who live may not
be physically as strong as if they had been breast fed.
PROPORTIONS BREAST FED AND ARTIFICIALLY FED.
Of the group of 2,587 live-born infants, 60 died before being fed;
322, or 12.7 per cent of the 2,527 babies who lived to be fed, were
artificially fed in the first month. The proportion of infants exclu
sively breast fed in the first month, 83.8 per cent, gradually decreased
from month to month, as a larger and larger number were fed wholly
or partly with artificial food. The shift in the proportions is shown
in Table X V I. B y the middle of the fifth month of life, about onehalf the infants were given breast milk exclusively; in the ninth month
only about one-fourth continued to be breast fed. The proportion
mixed fed, that is, receiving some breast milk in addition to artificial
food, gradually increased until it reached one-fourth in the eighth
and ninth month. In the ninth month not quite half the babies
were receiving artificial food exclusively.1
T a b l e X V I .— Infants bom in selected-year and surviving at end o f specified month, and
number ana per cent fed in specified way during the month, by month o f life.
Month of life.
First...........................
Second........................
Third..........................
Fourth........................
Fifth...........................
Sixth..........................
Seventh......................
Eighth....... ................
Ninth..........................
Total
surviv
ors.
2,485
2,453
2,429
2,395
2,370
2,350
2,317
2,302
2,287
Breast fed.
Mixed fed.
Artificially fed.
Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
2,082
1,833
1,602
1,354
1,210
1,054
832
716
594
83.8
74.7
66.0
56.5
61.1
44.9
35.9
31.1
26.0
96
162
226
805
351
422
539
587
623
8.9
6.2
9.3
12.7
14.8
ia o
23.3
25.6
27.2
306
467
600
735
808
873
945
998
1,069
12.3
19.0
24.7
30.7
34.1
37.1
40.8
43.1
46.7
Not re
ported.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
FEEDING CUSTOMS AND NATIONALITY OF MOTHER.
A comparison of type of feeding by nativity of mother shows that
exclusive breast feeding was slightly more prevalent among foreignborn mothers. In the first month 85.2 per cent of the infants of
foreign-bom mothers were breast fed as contrasted with only 80.1
per cent in the native group. The difference gradually diminishes,
until after the sixth month it is negligible. However, the percentage
of infants receiving mixed feeding was considerably higher among
the foreign-born group than among the native group at 3, 6, and
9 months of age.
A much smaller percentage of the infants of Portuguese-white
mothers than of other foreign nationalities was breast fed, smaller
1 The relation between type of feeding and gainful employment of the mother is discussed later, pp. 45-46.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
34
IN FA N T MORTALITY.
even than of the infants of native mothers. The Portuguese con
tributed the largest proportion of mixed-fed infants; in this nation
ality group the percentage mixed-fed at the third month was 16.2,
while for other foreign it was 7.7, and for infants of native mothers, 5.8.
At the sixth month the percentages became, respectively, 22.5, 18.7,
and 12.7.1
If the percentages of both mixed and artificially fed infants are
added together, giving the total proportion of infants who received
artificial feeding in whole or i$ part, the Portuguese head the list
with 39.9 per cent receiving some artificial feeding in the third month
as against 28.5 per cent of infants of other foreign-bom mothers and
37.7 per cent of infants of native mothers. In the sixth month, the
percentages were 60.2, 52.2, and 55.4, respectively. In the ninth
month, which is the customary time for weaning, the difference in this
respect between Portuguese and other foreign bom was negligible.
INFANT MORTALITY RATES, BY TYPE OF FEEDING.
The difference in mortality of breast-fed and artificially fed in
fants can be most clearly shown by contrasting the death rates in
each month of life. As already pointed out, the mortality gradually
declines as the infants grow older; but in each month of life there is
a great difference in favor of the breast-fed infants. The death rate
for the artificially fed in the first three months was over four times
that for the breast-fed infants, with an even greater difference from
the fifth to the seventh months; after the seventh, the relative dif
ference was not so great, being only two or three times the mortality
among infants receiving breast milk. These figures" indicate clearly
the superiority of breast feeding. (See Table X V II.)
T able X V I I .— Deaths in each month per 1,000 survivors at, beginning o f month and
monthly death rates per 1,000 infants fed in specified way, by month o f life.a
Deaths in month per 1,000 infants—
Deaths in
month
per 1,000
survivors
at begin
ning of
month.
Month of life.
Fifth
................................................... •.___
E ig h th ...........................................................................
a Derived from General Table 16.
6 The rate given is per 1,000 live births.
infants died not fed.
6 39.4
12.9
9.8
14.0
10.4
8.4
14.0
6.5
6.5
5.4
Breast
fed.
11.4
7.0
4.4
5.9
3.3
1.9
1.2
4.2
3.4
2.2
Native Foreignbom
Total. mothers.
mothers.
49.7
29.1
26.0
26.5
24.2
15.8
23.8
9.9
10.2
7.5
24.0
22.2
13.5
34.4
18.1
13.8
16.0
3.0
6.6
The rate per 1,000 infants who lived to be fed was 16.6.
i General Table 15.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Artificially fed.
66.0
33.2
33.0
22.3
27.2
16.7
27.5
13.3
15.1
7.9
Sixty
F E W BEDFORD, MASS.
35
The difference between the mortality of breast-fed and artificially
fed infants can be summed up in the following computation: If
1,000 infants who lived to be fed are assumed to have been breast
fed throughout the first year of life, and the monthly death rates
for breast-fed babies are applied successively to the survivors in
each month, the infant mortality rate (per 1,000 infants who lived
to be fed) would be 48.3. A similar computation for artificially fed
would give a rate of 214.2, four and one-half times as great.
The differences in rates for the artificially fed of the different
nativity groups is almost as striking as the difference in rates between
the breast and the artificially fed. There are many different types
of artificial feeding; the mother who gives her baby modified milk in
accordance with a physician’s prescription, and who observes care
fully all the rules for cleanliness and sterilization, is classed as giving
artificial feeding as well as the mother who is ignorant of the necessity
of providing pure, clean milk or who gives her baby condensed milk,
solid food, coffee, or tea. The contrast is well illustrated in the
following descriptions of the feeding of two infants, both classed as
artificially fed. When Baby A cried, his milk bottle was picked up
from the dirty floor, partly filled with condensed milk from the can,
then placed under the faucet and filled up with water. The nipple
was also recovered from the floor, and Baby A was fed. For Baby
B the bottles were kept sterilized; the milk, the best obtainable,
was modified in accordance with a physician’s directions and the
ingredients of the formula were carefully measured; the temperature
was properly regulated. Baby B was fed at regular intervals; he
was seen at least once a week by a doctor, and the milk formula was
changed when necessary. Both these babies were “ artificially fed.”
The contrast in the death rates for artificially fed infants of native
and of foreign-born mothers is due probably in large part to differ
ences in the method of feeding such as have been described. The
rate for the foreign born is largely influenced by the heavy mortality
among the babies of Portuguese white mothers, so large a propor
tion of whom were both illiterate and unable to speak English. As
already pointed out, a larger percentage of infants in the Portuguese
group was artificially fed throughout the first nine months than of
infants in the remainder of the foreign group. Yet the native
mother, in even a larger proportion of instances than the Portuguese
mother, fed her baby artificially, while the death rate, though much
higher than the rate for the breast-fed infants, was considerably
lower than for the babies of the Portuguese mothers.
By applying the rates in each group to 1,000 infants who lived
long enough to be fed, an infant mortality rate of 153.2 for artifi
cially fed infants of native mothers can be contrasted with a rate of
247.1 for artificially fed infants of foreign-born mothers. With the
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
36
same type of feeding, the infants of foreign-bom mothers died at a
rate one and one-half times as great as that for the infants of the
native group.
FEEDING IN RELATION TO CAUSE OF DEATH.
The large percentage of infants artificially fed, in whole or in part,
among the Portuguese group, probably accounts for the very large
proportion of deaths from gastric and intestinal causes among these
infants.
It was noted in an earlier section of the report that the mortality
in New Bedford from gastric and intestinal causes was exceedingly
high, and that over half the deaths among the infants of Portuguese
mothers were from this cause.
ECONOMIC FACTORS.
The chief product of manufacture in New Bedford was cotton
textiles. In this industry were many occupations requiring unskilled
and semiskilled labor, and wages were generally low. Besides the
cotton mills, which at the time of the study numbered over 30, there
were the large establishments of a drill and machine company, a shoe
factory, a silverware and glass factory, a cordage company, and a
biscuit factory. In addition were several smaller factories manu
facturing copper rolls, silks, ropes, lines, iron and brass screws, and
sperm and whale oils.
OCCUPATION OF FATHER.
The commercial and industrial character of New Bedford is well
illustrated in Table X V III, which classifies births according to the
industry in which the father was employed. Comparatively few
fathers were engaged in trade, transportation, or clerical and profes
sional service, while approximately 65 per cent were in manufacturing
and mechanical industries, including 41 per cent in cotton mills alone.
T a b l e X V I I I .— Births in selected year, according to industry or occupation o f father.
Industry or occupation of father.
Births.
All classes............ ...... ••- ....................
Manufacturing and mechanical industries..
Cotton mills............................................
Other than cotton mills.........................
Trade............. - ...............................................
Transportation..............................................
Domestic and personal service.....................
Public service................................................
Agriculture, fishing, and mining.................
Clerical occupations (all industries)............
Professional and semiprofessional pursuits..
Not reported « ........................... ....................
a No report on occupation for following reasons: In one instance the father lived on his income; in 35 in
stances the father did not contribute to the support of the family—including 22 cases in which the father had
deserted, 6 in which the father was dead, 5 in which the father was unable to work on account of sickness,
the father of one baby was a student, and in one case the reason was not reported.
■
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
37
BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION.
B y “ father's earnings" is meant the amount actually earned by
the father during the year following the birth of the infant. These
amounts, therefore, do not represent wage rates, since loss of time due
to sickness, slack work, or unemployment was always deducted.
Father's earnings were used as the basis of classifying the families
according to economic status. This plan was simpler and was deemed
more accurate and satisfactory than an attempt to classify families
by the total income which they had received, as this income was
sometimes made up not only of earnings but also of receipts from divi
dends-, property, and other investments, from boarders, lodgers, and
other sources. The gross income from boarders and lodgers was of
course always reported, but it was practically impossible to compute
the net income accurately in these cases. The net income from
property— that is, the gross income less interest, taxes, insurance,
repairs, etc.— was practically always unknown to the mother, who is
usually the person who gives the information. In the majority of
families the earnings of the fathers determine their economic status.
Further, it is easier to secure a correct statement for the father’s
earnings than for any of the other items which make up income; it
was decided, therefore, to adopt as the basis for classification the
actual amount earned b y the father during the year following the
birth of the infant; it is believed that this amount is a sound index of
the relative economic position of the family.
DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC GROUPS.
Three-fourths of the infants in this study were in families where the
father earned less than $850 a year. The largest single group of births
was that in which the father earned between $650 and $849. The
births in this group constituted 24 per cent of the total number.
(See Table X I X .) Among the factory operatives and laborers the
largest single group was that in which the father earned less than
$450 a year.1 The industrial character of the city and the low scale
of wages prevailing are emphasized in these figures. Between 6 and 7
per cent had fathers earning $1,250 and over. This latter group
included, of course, all fathers who were in professional or highly
paid commercial pursuits as well as fathers whose salaries were only
slightly over $1,250.
1 General Table 18.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
38
T
IN FA N T MORTALITY.
a b le
X I X .— Number and per cent distribution o f births during selected year to mothers
o f specified nativity, according to earnings o f father.
All mothers.
Earnings of father.
Total
births.
Per cent
distribu
tion.
Foreign-bom
mothers.
Native mothers.
Births.
Per cent
distribu
tion.
Births.
Per cent
distribu
tion.
All classes... - - - ..............•>- .............. -
2,662
100.0
753
100.0
1,909
100.0
Under $450............... .....................................
$450 to $549........................................ - ..........
$550 to $649....................................................
$650 to $849.................................... » ...........
$850 to $1,049.................................................
$1,050 to $1,249...........................................
$1) 250 and over.............................................
No earnings...................................................
Not reported.................................................
551
453
387
625
308
85
173
36
44
20.7
17.0
14.5
23.5
11.6
3.2
6.5
1.4
1.7
60
67
107
194
146
44
102
17
16
8.0
8.9
14.2
25.8
19.4
5.8
13.5
2.3
2.1
491
386
280
431
162
41
71
19
28
25.7
20.2
14.7
22.6
8.5
2.1
3.7
1.0
1.5
ECONOMIC STATUS AND NATIVITY OF MOTHER.
The economic status of families with native-born mothers was in
general higher than of those with foreign-born mothers. Seventeen per
cent of births to the native mothers were in families where the fathers
earned less than $550, while 46 per cent of the births to foreign-born
mothers belonged in this class. The modal group for native mothers
was the one in which the father earned between $650 and $849, while
the corresponding group for foreign-born mothers was that in which
the father earned less than $450 a year. (See Table X IX .)
INFANT MORTALITY RATES ACCORDING TO FATHER’ S EARNINGS.
In Table X X infant mortality rates for the different groups clas
sified according to earnings of the father are given. The infant mor
tality rates decreased progressively for the higher earnings group,
with a single irregularity in group $850 to $1,049, reaching the low
point of 59.9 for babies whose fathers earned $1,250 or over. The
lowest earnings group, that under $450, comprising over one-fifth of
all births, had an infant mortality rate of 201.9. In the families of
the very poor, 20 babies out of every 100 bom alive died before reach
ing their first birthday. In the group earning $1,250 or over, only
6 out of every 100 babies bom alive died under 1 year of age.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
39
F E W BEDFORD, MASS.
T a b l e X X . — Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent of
stillbirths, according to earnings o f father and nativity o f mother.
Stillbirths.
Earnings of father and nativity of mother.
All mothers.............
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.®
Number
Per cent
of total
births.o
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
75
2.8
551
453
387
625
308
85
173
36
44
530
442
380
610
297
84
167
34
43
107
57
44
60
40
5
10
8
6
201.9
129.0
115.8
98. 4
134.7
21
11
7
15
11
8
2
1
2
2
59.9
6
3.5
Native mothers .•... .
753
729
79
108.4
24
3.2
Under *450.................
*450 to *549....................
*550 to *649....................
*650 to *849...............
*850 to *1,049.....................
$1,050 to 11,249..............
*1,250 and over..........
Nò earnings........................
No report.......................
60
67
107
194
146
44
102
17
16
56
65
106
187
141
43
98
17
16
11
7
14
19
16
1
5
4
2
132.1
101.6
113.5
1
7
5
3 fi
34
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
51
2.7
491
386
280
431
162
41
71
19
28
474
377
274
423
156
41
69
17
27
96
50
30
41
24
4
5
4
4
202.5
132.6
109.5
96.9
153.8
17
9
6
8
6
- 3.5
2.3
2 1
Under $450............
*450 to *549...............
*550 to *649.................
*650 to *849......................
*850 to *1,049.................
*1,050 to *1,249.............
*1,250 and over.........
No earnings...................
No report...................
Foreign-born mothers...........
Under $450......................
*450 to *549...................
*550 to *649.............................
*650 to *849........ ...............
*850 to *1,049................................
*1,050 to *1,249.....................
*1,250 and over................................
No earnings..................................
No report............................. .
a
£
4
£
4
6
n q
3.9
1 Q
3.7
Not shown where base is less than 100.
This decline in infant mortality rates as the father’s earnings in
crease is not peculiar to New Bedford.
Chart V shows graphs for
three cities studied by the bureau. In each city— Manchester, Sag
inaw, and New Bedford— the infant mortality rate decreased from the
lowest to the highest earnings groups.
For the infants of both native mothers and foreign-born mothers
in New Bedford the same decline in mortality rates b y father’s earn
ings appears. In both nativity groups the rates were markedly
higher for the low earnings groups, though the rates, based as they
are upon fewer cases, show more fluctuations.
COMPARISON OF “ UNFAVORABLE” AREA WITH THE REST OF THE CITY.
The majority of the very poor included in the study lived in the
so-called “ unfavorable” area, consisting of precincts 1, 2, 3, 13, and
17, as defined at the time of the study. In these precincts the poor
est accommodations and the cheapest rents were found. The cottonmill workers, the majority of whom belonged in the lower economic
groups, sought homes near the mills. Seventy-two per cent of the
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
40
five births in-families in the lowest earnings group, under $450, were
to mothers who lived in this area. It was not until the earnings
group $850 to $1,049 was reached that the majority of the live births
were to mothers who lived outside this area. A smaller proportion
of the native mothers lived in the “ unfavorable” area than of the
foreign-born mothers; a majority of native families lived outside the
‘‘ unfavorable” area for all earnings.groups above $550, while a ma
jority of foreign-bom families in each earnings group lived within
this area. This section represented the colonizing ground for most
of the large groups of foreigners, and they still clung to their colonies
even when a rise in economic status would have permitted them to
live in better and more comfortable quarters elsewhere.1
ECONOMIC STATUS AND SIZE OF FAMILY.
Forty per cent of all babies included in the study were fourth or
later births. The average size of the family was 3.8 persons, exclu
sive of the scheduled baby. The largest families were found in the
two groups, $650 to $849 and $850 to $1,049, each of which had an
average of 4 persons per family. In the lowest earnings groups,
under $450 and $450 to $549— those in which the problem of making
ends meet is the most serious— 47.2 per cent of the births occurred
in f amilies of four or more persons, exclusive of the baby. For the
entire group studied, over one-fourth of the births (28.6 per cent)
occurred in families of five or more persons.
In every earnings group the size of the families of the foreign-bom
mothers was greater than of the corresponding group of native
mothers. Even if wages had been relatively the same instead of not
so high, the foreign groups would not have been so well off as the
corresponding native groups, since the wages had to provide for a
larger number.
FATHER’ S EARNINGS AND EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHER.
The coincidence of low earnings of the father and gainful employ
ment of the mother seems to indicate that such employment is the.
result of poverty rather than of custom or preference. Sixty-one
per cent of the births to mothers whose husbands earned less than
$450 were to mothers employed during the year following the babies’
births. In the higher earnings groups the percentage of mothers
employed steadily decreases. In each earnings group a larger per
centage of foreign-born than of native mothers were employed at
some time during the year after the birth. (See Table X X I.) This
excess may be due to the fact that the economic need is relatively
greater on account of the large families of the foreign-bom mothers.
1 General Table 20.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Chart
Under
$450
$450
to
$549
40-1
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
$550
to
$649
$650
$850
to
to
$849
$1,049
Manchester, N. H.
- - - - - - - - - - - New Bedford, Mass.
“ — - — Saginaw, Mich.
$1,050
to
' $1,249
$1,250
and
over.
Chart V I — P E R C E N T A G E O F M O T H E R S G A IN F U L L Y E M P L O Y E D ,
A C C O R D IN G T O E A R N IN G S O F F A T H E R .
Per cent.
A ll mothers.
Native mothers.
Foreign-bom mothers.
40-2
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
BY
N A T IV IT Y ,
41
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
T ablb X X I .— Births during selected year and number and per cent o f births to mothers
o f specified nativity gainfully employed during year following birth o f infant, according
to earnings o f father.
All mothers.
Native mothers.
Gainfully
employed.
Earnings of father.
Total
births.
Gainfully
employee!.
Births.
Num
ber.
Foreign-bom mothers.
Per
cent.“
Gainfully
employed.
Births.
Num
ber.
Per
cent.“
27.0
37.4
29.9
13.0
12.3
All fathers....................
2,662
1,077
40.5
753
203
$450 to $549.............................
$550 to $649............ .................
$650 to $849.............................
$850 to $1,049...........................
$1,050 and over.......................
551
453
387
625
308
258
36
44
337
233
171
199
56
41
24
16
61.2
51.4
44.2
31.8
18.2
15.9
60
67
107
194
146
146
17
16
27
27
40
58
19
18
8
6
Num
ber.
Per
cent “
1,909
874
45.8
491
386
280
431
162
112
19
28
310
206
131
141
37
23
16
10
63.1
53.4
46.8
32.7
22.8
20.5
“ Not shown where base is less than 100.
Chart VI illustrates the decline in per cent of mothers gainfully
employed with the improvement in economic status.
GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHER.
The high infant mortality rates prevailing in textile towns, where
large numbers of women are employed,'suggests that gainful em
ployment of mothers is an important factor in infant mortality. It
is difficult to isolate the effect of this single factor and to determine
how large a part it plays in maintaining a high infant mortality rate.
But b y contrasting the group of wage-earning women with the group
of mothers not employed the relation between the infant mortality
rate and the employment of the mother can be studied.
According to the census,1 38 per cent of the wage earners in New
Bedford in 1909 were women. This study shows a large proportiQn
of mothers gainfully employed, 47 per cent of the births studied be
ing to mothers gainfully employed during the year preceding the
baby’s birth and 41 per cent to those so employed the year following.
Most of these mothers were gainfully employed both the year before
and the year after the birth of their infants.
EMPLOYMENT AND NATIVITY.
A much larger proportion of foreign-born than of native mothers,
one-half and one-third, respectively, were gainfully employed dur
ing the year before the birth of their babies. Fewer mothers in each
group worked after the birth of the infants, but relatively more foreign-bom than native mothers.2
U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1910, Manufactures, Vol. IX , p. 540.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
* General Tables 22 and 24.
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
42
CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT.
Gainful employment of mothers may he divided into two classes—
work at home, including keeping lodgers, dressmaking, millinery,
and helping in husband’s, business if this place of business adjoins
or is practically part of the dwelling place of the mother; and employ
ment away from home, which includes factory and store work, char
work, domestic service, and other employments necessitating the
mother’s absence from, the home. Work away from home would
naturally be more detrimental to the welfare of the infant, since it
would deprive him of breast feeding and his mother’s care during at
least a part of the day.
EMPLOYMENT DURING YEAR PRECEDING BIRTH OF BABY.
During the selected year 1,242 births occurred to mothers em
ployed at some time during the year preceding childbirth, and mothers
of 882 of these infants were employed in extradomestic occupations,
most of them in the textile mills. The infant mortality rates show
a considerable difference in favor of the infants whose mothers were
not gainfully employed prior to childbirth. The rate for this group
was 108.8, as contrasted with 154.5 for infants of employed mothers.
For infants of mothers employed away from home the rate was 167.8,
and it was still higher— 175.4— for infants of mothers employed in
the textile mills. (See Table X X II.)
infant, and nativity o f mother.
Stillbirths.
Employment of mother during year pre
ceding birth of infant, and nativity of
mother.
All mothers.....................................
Native mothers...................................
Eoreign-bom mothers........................
Total
births.
2,662
Live
births.
2,587
1,420
1,242
360
882
1,370
1,217
353
864
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
Per vent
rate.« Number. of total
births.»
130.3
75
2.8
149~
188
43
145
108.8
154.6
121.8
167.8
50
25
7
18
3.5
2.0
1.9
2.0
337
753
729
79
108.4
24
3.2
502
251
72
179
484
245
69
176
47
32
8
24
97.1
130.6
(«)
136.4
18
6
3
3
3.6
2.4
<°) i
1.7
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
51
2.7
918
991
288
703
886
972
284
688
102
156
35
121
115.1
160.6
123.2
175.9
32
19
4
15
3.5
1.9
1.4
2.1
t
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Not shown where base is less than 100.
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
43
An analysis of the length of time before childbirth that employ
ment ceased was made for the 812 births to mothers who worked in
the cotton mills. In 8 cases the mother reported either no cessa
tion before confinement or cessation of work the day before the birth
of the baby; in 24, less than one month before confinement; and in
168 cases, or 21 per cent, less than three months before. The infant
mortality rate for the group whose mothers reported no cessation or
cessation of work less than three months before confinement was
184.5, while the rate for infants of gainfully employed mothers who
ceased work with a longer interval before confinement was 174.9.1
The rate is slightly higher for the mothers who worked up to within
three months of confinement; but in either case the mortality rate
is high for infants of mothers gainfully employed in the cotton mills
during pregnancy.
WORK AFTER CHILDBIRTH.
The mothers of 1,077 infants, or 40 per cent of the total included
in this study, were gainfully employed at some time during the year
following childbirth; in 599 instances, or 56 per cent, the mother was
employed away from home.
The story told by one of the mothers of her working day was per
haps typical of the experiences of this group of mothers. She was
a weaver in the mill and preferred working to being at home; she
also needed the extra money. She worked from 6.45 in the morning
until 5.30 in the afternoon and cooked supper, cleaned house, and
did her ironing at night. Her mother-in-law, who lived upstairs,
took care of the children and cooked the noon meal. This mother
had worked in the mill since she was 12. She generally went back to
her work two months after a confinement, changing the feeding of the
infant at that time from breast to artificial. One child had died at
the time of this change; the mother, therefore, fearing the change had
caused the death of the child, had given the infant in the study arti
ficial feeding from birth.
Of the 578 live-bom infants of mothers employed outside the home,
146 died in the first year of life. The rate, 252.6, characterizes condi
tions in families where the mother works— over three-fourths of these
mothers employed after childbirth in extradomestic employment
had also been employed before childbirth; but since deaths that oc
curred before the mothers went to work are included, it does not
show the direct effect of the mother’s employment after the baby’s
birth upon his chance of survival. Of the 146 deaths, 103 occurred
before the mother went to work. Clearly, in these cases, the death
of the infant can not be attributed to the mother’s employment fol
lowing the baby’s birth.
1 Derived from General Table 22.
154220°— 20-------4
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INFANT MORTALITY.
44
The effect upon infant mortality of the mother’s employment away
from home during the year after the infant’s birth may be shown by
the following calculation. There were 475 infants who were alive
when their mothers commenced or resumed work. If the average in
fant mortality rate for the city for the remainder of the year had pre
vailed among them, a total of 29 deaths would have occurred; but
actually 43 of these infants died. The ratio of 43 to 29 expresses
the extra mortality among these infants of gainfully employed
mothers. (See Table X X III .)
T
X X I I I .— Infants born in selected year whose mothers resumed work away from
home during specified month o f infant’s life, average number o f subsequent deaths per
100 surviving at beginning o f month, actual subsequent deaths, and deaths expected at
average rates.
a b l e
Subsequent deaths in year.
Month of life of infant during which mother commenced
work away from home.
Total.
Infants
whose
mothers
com
menced
work.
Average
deaths i>er
100 surviv Expected
ing at be at average
ginning of mortality.
month of
life.
475
19
First.......
Second...
Third___
Fourth...
Fifth.......
Sixth......
Seventh..
Eighth...
Ninth___
Tenth___
Eleventh.
Twelfth..
66
75
66
42
49
41
34
36
30
16
1
a
Per 100 infants who lived to be fed.
28.8
43
2.1
6.3
4
14
a 11.0
9.5
8.3
7.4
6.1
5.1
4.3
2.9
2.3
6.2
4.9
2.6
2.5
1.8
1.0
1.6
.4
Actual.
8
9
3
1
3
1
.5
.1
( 6)
5 Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.
An analysis by age of baby at mother’s resumption of work indi
cates that almost all the excessive mortality occurred among the
cases in which the mother took up work away from home when the
baby was less than 4 months old. For this group, numbering 226, a
total of 20 deaths would have been expected at average rates, but
35 deaths occurred. The mortality was, then, one and three-quarters
times the average rate. For the remainder, there was practically no
difference between the rate for all the infants included in the stu d y.
and the rate for the infants whose mothers were gainfully employed
during the infant’s lifetime. If reliance can be placed upon the indi
cations afforded by these figures, it would appear that early resump
tion of work by the mother is especially harmful to the welfare of her
baby.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
45
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHER AND FEEDING.
One of the common consequences of a mother's having to seek
gainful employment after the birth of her baby is that she is unable
to nurse him. Table X X IV shows the relation between the type of
feeding and the employment of the mother.
T
a b le
X X I V .— Per cent artificially fed among infants bom in selected year to mothers
o f specified working status, by selected age o f infant.
Per cent of infants artificially fed.
Age of infant.
Mothers
not
gainfully
employed
before
specified
time.
24.3
33.4
41.7
Mothers gainfully em
ployed before time
specified—
from
At home. Away
home.
18.0
29.1
39.0
45.9
68.5
73.7
Of the infants of mothers gainfully employed away from home a
very large proportion was artifically fed, a proportion about twice as
great at 3 and 6 months as for infants whose mothers were not at
work. For infants aged 9 months nearly three-fourths of those
whose mothers were employed away from home were artifically fed
as contrasted with two-fifths for those whose mothers were not at
work.
A Portuguese grandmother, who cared for the baby during the
day, told of the baby's mother having to go back to the mill when
the baby was only 2 weeks old because of the desertion of her hus
band. For two weeks after returning to work she came home at
noon and nursed the baby; after this, however, she decided that
when she was tired her milk was not good for the baby and weaned
him altogether at the age of 1 month.
The 4-months-old baby of an Italian mother was weaned when his
mother returned to her spinning at the mill and was fed a proprietary
food and anything else he wished, including ice cream and bananas.
A French-Canadian mother who went back to her work as a weaver
three weeks after her baby's birth weaned the baby soon after. The
cow’s milk which the baby was fed after this time was not suited to
him and at 4 months he died of malnutrition.
Another mother (Portuguese) returned to her spinning at the mill
three months after the baby’s birth. Her milk left her and the baby
was weaned. Cow's milk was tried first, then condensed milk, and
finally a proprietary food. The baby had convulsions at 4 months,
again at 8 months, and at 12 months had convulsions for one month
and died.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
46
That not all the infants of mothers employed away from home
were artifically fed was due to the fact that in many instances mothers
were employed near their homes. It was possible for these mothers
to return at certain periods of the day to nurse their infants, or the
infants might be brought to the places of employment.
The fact that 46 per cent of the deaths of infants of mothers who
worked in the milla were due to gastric and intestinal diseases while
only 25 per cent of the deaths of infants of mothers not at work were
from these causes would seem to show that the employment of the
mother, as a rule entailing artificial feeding of the infant, was an
important factor in causing the great number of deaths from this
largely preventable cause.
EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS IN COTTON MILLS.
Since 540 of the 578 live births to mothers employed outside the
home the year after the birth of the scheduled baby were to mothers
who were cotton-mill operatives, a special study was made of this
group.
The mothers of 96 of these infants were native, and of 444 foreign
born, including 194 Portuguese white.1 The classification of the
444 foreign-born mothers employed as cotton-mill operatives shows
them to be of comparatively recent immigration, with 42 per cent
illiterate and 58 per cent unable to speak English. The Portuguese
white added the greatest number, proportionately, to the illiterate
and non-English-speaking groups. Thirty-three per cent of this
nationality group had been in this country less than 5 years, and 31
per cent had been here 10 years or more. Sixty-six per cent were
alliterate and 78 per cent could not speak English. Among other
foreign-born mothers these factors were not so pronounced; mothers
of 55 per cent of the births in the groups of other non-English-speak
ing nationalities were unable to speak English and 23 per cent were
illiterate; mothers of 22 per cent had been in the United States less
than five years.2
How great was the economic need which caused this employment of
mothers in cotton milla is shown in General Table 28. Practically all
the working mothers were in families where the father earned under
$850, there being only 21 instances in the three income groups of
over $850.
In tbia connection it may be pointed out that in 12 instances of
working mothers the mother had been deserted, in 6 cases the father
had died, and in 1 case the father was sick the entire year.
i General Table 24.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
* Derived from General Tables 26 and 27.
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
47
LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHER.
Massachusetts is one of four States1 which in 1913 had laws pro
hibiting the employment of women immediately before or after
confinement. The Massachusetts law 2 reads:
Section 1. No woman shall knowingly be employed in laboring in a mercantile,
manufacturing, or mechanical establishment within two weeks before or four weeks
after childbirth.
Section 2. The foregoing section shall be included in the notice with regard to the
employment of women now required to be posted in mercantile, manufacturing, and
mechanical establishments, and the provisions thereof shall be enforced by the district
police.
Section 3. Violations of section one of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex
ceeding one hundred dollars.
Section 4. This act shall take effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred
and twelve.
No adequate provision was made for the enforcement of the law.
Practically it can be carried out only where a matron or other person
is appointed to see that its provisions are complied with. It could
not be expected that the 34 State inspectors, whose territories were so
large that it was impossible for them to make the rounds more than
once in two or three years, could supervise the enforcement of this
law. Only one New Bedford cotton mill employed a matron to see
that the proper rest periods were observed.
CIVIC AND SOCIAL FACTORS.
BIRTH REGISTRATION.
In Massachusetts the city clerks were charged with keeping the
records of vital statistics. The State was one of the first admitted
into the provisional birth-registration area, established by the United
States Bureau of the Census; for inclusion in this area a registration
90 per cent complete is required.3
Physicians and midwives were required under the State law to
file with the city clerk a partial report within 48 hours, and a com
plete report within 15 days, of births which they had attended.
The law provided for a fee of 25 cents to be.paid the physician or
midwife so reporting a birth, and exacted a penalty of a fine not to
exceed $25 for failure to report.4 Parents, householders, keepers of
institutions, and masters of vessels were also required b y law to re
port to the city clerk any-births occurring within their domain, and
for failure to report a penalty of a fine not to exceed $5 was imposed.5
1 Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.
2 Acts of 1911, ch. 229. Approved Mar. 31,1911.
* Massachusetts had been admitted into the similarly constituted census area of adequate death regis
tration in 1880.
* Laws 1912, ch. 280, secs. 1 and 2:
* Revised Laws 1902, ch. 29, secs. 6, 7, and 8.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
48
Various methods of checking and supplementing birth returns
were in use in the office of the city clerk at New Bedford. Every
year, in January, canvassers were appointed who visited every house
in the city to ascertain whether any births had occurred there during
the previous year. The canvassers’ returns were then compared
with the birth records already obtained, and any births which had
not been registered were then placed on record. This procedure
resulted in making the returns more complete. The only difficulty
lay in the fact that frequently canvassers’ returns were not identi
fied with records already received on account of slight differences
in name, date, or place of birth; many births were thus registered
twice. In the course of the investigation, 97 registered births were
found to be duplicates and 2 were triplicates. In addition to can
vassing, the city clerk made a birth entry whenever a death certificate
of an infant who was born in New Bedford and for whom he had[no
birth record was returned to his office. Members of the clergy had
been asked to cooperate with the city clerk in his efforts to securecomplete birth registration, by furnishing him with copies of their
birth or baptismal records.
That the various methods adopted in New Bedford for securing a
complete registration of births have been effective is indicated by
the fact that of the 3,542 total births found during the investigation
to have occurred in 1913, only 49, or 1.4 per cent, were unregistered.
It is evident that registration of births for this city is exceptionally
thorough.
THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
The board of health as constituted in 1913 had 26 employees in
various capacities and was headed by a full-time health officer.
Only those of its activities which bear upon infant mortality will be
summarized in this report.
It was the duty of one of the two nurses employed by the board ol
health “ to visit the homes of the newly born where midwives have
officiated.” Many cases of ophthalmia neonatorum in its early
stages were discovered and, as already mentioned, specialists were
employed to give necessary treatment. During 1913 the nurse made
1,546 visits to homes where births had been reported to the board
of health by attending physicians and midwives.2
;
The mother of every new-born cljild was mailed a printed circular
giving her instructions as to the care of her child during infancy.
The pamphlets were printed in English, French, Portuguese, and
Polish, and emphasized the advantage of breast feeding, light cloth
ing in summer, frequent bathing, fresh air, and medical attention
1 Municipal Manual, City of New Bedford, Mass., prepared b y Charles P. Sawyer, Clerk of Committees,
. ,
2 Ann,ml Report of the Board of Health, 1913, City of New Bedford, Mass., pp. 6 and 21.
Clerk of Common Council, May 1,1914; pp. 38 and 39.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
49
in case of illness. The department, since 1914, had furnished to
mothers copies of a pamphlet, “ The Baby and Y o u ,” supplied by
the division of hygiene of the State department of health; additional
instructions and explanations were given to the mothers in person
by the visiting nurses. In its annual report for 1915, the board of
health, in a discussion of “ Baby welfare w ork,” states that “ the
problem of infant mortality demands the best efforts of the depart
ment and the community. ” The report then discusses the various
factors related to infant mortality— milk supervision, milk stations,
good sanitary conditions, housing, feeding, prenatal conditions, in
dustrial conditions— and concludes that “ our main reliance must be
placed in educational work. Mothers must be instructed in the care
of the baby both before and after it is born. The physician can
contribute to this, but as doctors are often not called except at child
birth, and sometimes not even then, other ways of reaching the
mothers must be tried. The obvious ways are through printed in
structions and public nurses, and of these the latter are by far the
more helpful. ”
Milk supply.
The board of health also has the supervision of the milk supply of
New Bedford, the milk ordinance providing that “ no person, firm
or corporation shall engage in the production, sale, delivery, or dis
tribution of milk in the city of New Bedford except in accordance
with the rules and regulations of the board of health of New Bedford. ”
Practically all the milk sold in New Bedford was produced within
a radius of 12 miles, except for a very small amount which was brought
in by one producer who lived 21 miles away. The total quantity
amounted to about 50,000 quarts daily. Some of it was peddled by
the producers themselves, and some was distributed by dealers, but
at the time of this study a large part was sold in the form of loose
milk by the various stores. The practice of the sale of loose milk
has since been prohibited by the board of health.
Only one inspector of the board of health was charged with in
specting dairies and places where milk was sold. He also had to
inspect bakeries, slaughterhouses, and stores selling fruit, vegetables,
and other provisions.1 It was obviously impossible for one person to
inspect with sufficient frequency over 400 dairy farms, over 150 ped
dlers, and 300 stores where milk was sold, and to attend to the inspec
tion of other food products besides. During 1913, 303 visits of in
spection of dairy farms had been made; the inspector was unable to
make the rounds even once a year. The regulations of the board of
health covering the production and sale of milk (as revised August,
1 Annual Report of the Board of Health, 1913, City of New Bedford, Mass., pp. 20 and 21.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
50
IN F A N T M ORTALITY.
1913)1 included provisions that distributors of milk must be licensed
annually and that both producer and distributor must proceed in
accordance with the regulations prescribed by the board. The prin
cipal provisions relating to the handling of milk were the following:
Cow stables to be kept clean, well lighted and ventilated, and the
tie-ups whitewashed twice a year; the keeping of swine prohibited
within 50 feet of any barn or building; the hands of milkers to be
washed before milking; milk to be cooled immediately after milking,
all utensils used in the sale, delivery, or distribution of milk to be
sterilized before using again and certain provisions are included in
regard to the rooms in which milk may be stored.
Dealers of milk must furnish the board of health with the list of
producers from whom they secure their supply, and samples may be
taken from time to time for bacterial count and the premises of the
producers may be inspected to determine whether the regulations
of the board are complied with.
These regulations failed to include certain provisions which have
been designated as ‘ ‘ cardinal points” in a good city milk ordinance.2
Omissions were as follows:
1. Temperature standards governing the temperature at which milk shall be held
on the farm, in transit to the city, in storage, and on delivery wagons.
2. A policy in regard to the control of bovine tuberculosis.
3. Provision for the use of score cards.
Chemical and bacteriological standards and standards for pas
teurization, points not covered by the city ordinances, are regulated
by the State laws.
Samples of milk were collected by two of the sanitary inspectors
and analyzed for bacterial count by the bacteriologist, who gave part
time to this duty. In 1913, 633 samples of milk were collected and
examined, an average of about 4 samples a year from each peddler.
Since the time of the study the city has made tests for butter fats
and total solids, as well as for bacterial count; previously the tests
for butter fats and total solids were made by State authorities.
The method employed in testing milk was to “ centrifuge” ; then
a “ smear” was taken and examined under the microscope. The
reports of the bacteriologist for the year 1913 3 showed 493 samples
below 50,000 per c. c., and 85 above 200,000 per c. c., these figures
being approximate only. The majority of the tests took place during
the summer months when there was greater chance for pollution of the
milk; in the winter months very few tests were made.
1 Regulations governing the production, care, and sale of milk in New Bedford, as revised and adopted
Aug. 9,1913.
» Parker, Horatio. City Milk Supply, pp. 378 and 379.
s Annual Report of the Board of Health, 1913, City of New Bedford, p. 12.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
51
A full-time bacteriologist and more than one milk inspector might
well be employed to safeguard properly the milk supply. With so
high a mortality from gastric and intestinal diseases, more stringent
measures to assure clean milk would seem especially urgent.
Care in producing and handling milk has probably improved
greatly among the dairies supplying New Bedford in the last few
years. Some years prior to this study various public-spirited citizens,
realizing the necessity for a clean supply of milk not only to reduce
infant mortality but also to prevent diseases of adults, carried on a
campaign to teach the dairymen the best methods of keeping milk
clean and cool until its delivery in the city. A demonstration wagon
was fitted up and visits were made to the whole countryside; actual
demonstrations of handling milk were given, with tests showing that
the methods were efficient as well as simple. This campaign of
education doubtless contributed to more general production of clean
milk.
SANITATION.
Water supply.
New Bedford owns and manages its own system of waterworks.
Since 1899 the whole water supply has been taken from Great and
Little Quitticas Ponds, 11 miles north of the center of the city. The
two ponds are connected and from Little Quitticas Pond the water
enters a pumping station, first passing through coarse wire screens.
From the pumping station it is forced into a reservoir on High Hill
in the neighboring town of Dartsmouth. From this reservoir, after
passing through finer screens, the water flows by gravitation into the
city’s distributing system.
The use of city water in New Bedford was practically universal.
The water board in its annual report for 1914 1 estimated that during
the year 103,000 of New Bedford’s estimated population of 108,000
were supplied with city water— approximately 95 per cent of the
population. Of the families included in this study, 98 per cent were
using city water. The remaining 2 per cent, who were using water
from dug or driven wells, or in a few cases from springs, were families
who lived in the rural area toward the north and west of the city,
where water mains had not yet been introduced.
Supervision of the water supply was under the direction of the
State board of health, and a chemical analysis of samples was made
six times a year. The findings were published in the annual reports
of the local water board and in the reports of the State board of health.
In general the water supply of New Bedford seemed satisfactory.
Sewerage.
The sewerage system in New Bedford seemed fairly adequate to
serve the city. In 1913 it included 110.5 miles of sewers. Since the
sections not supplied with sewers were for the most part rural in
i Annual Report of the Water Board of the City of New Bedford, 1914, p. 67.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
52
IN FA N T MORTALITY.
character, a comparison of the 110.5 miles of sewers with the 180.6
miles of accepted streets shows a fairly comprehensive provision for
the collection of sewage in the city proper.1 The city engineer es
timated that about 95 per cent of the dwellings in New Bedford were
connected with the city sewers. Of the dwellings of families covered
by this investigation, 97 per cent had sewer-connected sinks, and 94
per cent had toilets connected with the sewer.
Toilets.
At the request of the agent for the board of health the city assessors,
when they went their rounds in the early part of 1914, counted the
yard privies and reported 171. Making allowance for the probable
incompleteness of the assessors’ returns, the board of health agent
estimated that there were in New Bedford on April 1, 1914, approxi
mately 200 yard privies. In general, these privies existed only in places
where sewerage facilities were inadequate— that is, in a very few
sections in the outlying districts. In this study there were found
132 privies, only 2 of which were connected with a cesspool, and one
dwelling which had no toilet.2 This showing indicates that the city
had made satisfactory progress in providing sewer connections for its
dwellings and in banishing the objectionable yard privies.
Sewage disposal.
The system in operation in 1913, the year of the study, was
essentially as follows: The sewers, some carrying only household and
manufacturing wastes and some carrying storm water in addition,
discharged from 31 outlets into the Acushnet River and from 16 out
lets into Clarks Cove. The outlets into the Acushnet River, located
in many cases close to the shore ends of docks, discharged the sewage
into quiet and shallow waters where the current was not strong
enough to carry it off properly. These outlets caused a considerable
pollution of the shore waters of the Acushnet; offensive odors were
constantly in evidence and were particularly objectionable near the
points of discharge between long wharves. The Clarks Cove situa
tion was even worse, for into this very shallow arm of the bay the
sewage and drainage of a thickly settled residential section were
discharged. With the completion of the new intercepting system
in 1916, these objectionable features have been removed.
A t the time of the study a new system of sewage disposal was
under construction; begun in 1911, it was finally completed in 1916.
Briefly outlined, the new system collects all sewage at points near
the water front and conducts it to Buzzards Bay, where it is dis
charged into deep water 3,300 feet from shore. The sewage is thus
dispersed and diluted by the waters of the bay without danger of
creating a nuisance or of causing pollution of the water front of
towns along the shore.
1 Annual Report of Superintendent of Streets, 1913, City of New Bedford, p. 4.
2 General Table 29.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
53
Disposal of ashes, refuse, and garbage.
The collection and disposal of ashes was under the supervision of
the street department. Collection of ashes and other refuse was
made once a w'eek and the waste material hauled to dumps and used
to fill in low land.
The dumps in New Bedford seemed to be unnecessarily numerous
and unnecessarily near city dwellings. In addition to the dozen
city dumps vacant lots in various sections of the city had accumu
lated deposits of refuse which were not only unsightly but particu
larly objectionable in that the children of the neighborhood used
them as playgrounds. Plate 13 shows one of these dumps with a
row of dwellings opposite and the street littered with scraps of paper
and refuse. Many complaints had been made of the nuisances
caused b y these dumps, and the street department, police, and
board of health were cooperating in attempting to improve them.
Before land could be used as a dump a permit had to be secured
from the board of health.
The collection and disposal of garbage was under the supervision
of the board of health.1 A private company held a 10-year contract
for the disposal of garbage and night soil, and they sublet the contract
for its collection and removal. Garbage was collected twice a week
from November 1 to May 1, and three times a week from May 1 to
November 1. From hotels and restaurants it was collected every
day.
The extractor plant was located on the outskirts of the city, far
enough away from dwellings to be unobjectionable. A t the ex
tractor plant grease and other products were extracted from the
garbage.
Paving streets.
Approximately two-thirds of New Bedford’s 181 miles of accepted
streets were paved. Four-fifths of the paved streets were macadam
ized.2 On a few of the older streets near the river and in the center
of the city, and on the thoroughfares running west, cobblestone
pavements were found, the stones usually very large and unevenly
laid.3 The newer roads near the outskirts of the town were not
paved at all.
Cleaning, sprinkling, and oiling streets.
Macadam and dirt roads and gutters were cleaned by street brooms
two or three times a year; paved streets were cleaned mostly by hand
or by the “ patrol” system. Streets were sprinkled or oiled from
about the 1st of April until the 1st of October. Where the traffic
was heavy the streets were oiled four times a year.
1 The contract for the disposal of garbage has been under the direction of the hoard of health and the con
tract for the collection of garbage has been under the highway department since 1916.
2Annual Report of Superintendent of Streets, 1913, City of New Bedford, p. 4.
3 Since 1913 nearly all these streets have been repaved with stone-block pavements on a concrete base
and grouted with cement (Hassam process).
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
54
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
SOCIAL AGENCIES.
Instructive Nurses Association.
The Instructive Nurses Association, besides carrying on the usual
work of such an institution, maintained two infant-welfare stations
during the summer months. In 1913 these stations were located in
two schoolhouses, one in the north end in precinct 3,1 where the
majority of the Polish mothers, some of the French-Canadian, and
many Portuguese-white mothers lived, the other in the south end
on the border line between precincts 13 and 17. The latter station
was accessible to the big colony of Portuguese-white and colored
mothers who lived in this section of the city.
These stations were opened in 1913 from July 6 until September
26, and in both stations together 379 babies under 1 year were
enrolled during that period. Three nurses had charge of the work
at each station, and doctors contributed their services for clinics at
stated hours during the week.
Milk is modified and pasteurized at the dairy by a graduate nurse,
also in the homes when so ordered by thè attending physician.
Since 1913 another station in the south end has been added. The
money for the support of these stations was raised by private
subscription.
This association has been doing prenatal work for the past eight
years, or since 1911. The nursing service of one of the more impor
tant life-insurance companies is furnished through the nurses asso
ciation, which in this way is able to give the expectant mothers who
are insured in this company advice and treatment.
BOARDING HOMES.
The law of Massachusetts 2 provides that any person who keeps in
return for reward more than one infant not related to him by blood
or marriage must be licensed. These infant-boarding homes are
under the control of the State board of charity. The law requires
that the State board must be notified whenever an infant under 2
years of age is received for compensation by any person not related
by blood or marriage. Licenses are granted by the State board of
charity after the application has been approved by the local board
of health. A t the time of this study six infant-boarding homes in
New Bedford were licensed.
The lack of official supervision of homes where babies are cared
for during the day hours only was one of the conditions which needed
attention in New Bedford. Since the time of the study a new daynursery law has gone into effect (July 26, 1919) requiring that places
receiving three or more infants during the day shall be licensed by
the board of health.
1Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time oi the study.
1 Revised Laws 1902, ch. 83, sec. 2.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
55
HOUSING.
The effect of housing on the life and health of infants can be shown
only very imperfectly in a statistical study of this kind. Defective
housing conditions, lack of fresh air, overcrowding, and exposure
to infection through defective sanitary arrangements may influence
infant health or infant mortality. It is possible to obtain certain
definite facts regarding the number of rooms in the dwelling, number
of persons per room, toilet facilities, water and sewerage arrange
ments— facts which lend themselves readily to statistical presenta
tion— and to show the proportion of the infants included in the study
who lived under favorable or under unfavorable housing conditions.
But it is relatively difficult to measure the influence o f housing con
ditions on infant welfare, since these factors are so complex.
The discussion of housing is presented in two parts— first, a
general survey of housing conditions throughout the city, to indicate
the prevalence of housing defects in the city; and second, a pres
entation of housing conditions under which the infants of the
study lived.
THE RIVER SECTION.
One of the oldest-—and probably the poorest, most congested, and
most dilapidated— sections of the city was the strip along the river,
extending from the group of mills in the northern end of the city to
the mills in precincts 16 and 17 1 in the southern end of the city.
This particular part of the city may be designated as the river
section, and it included most of the “ unfavorable” area. In the
center of this strip was the business district of the city and a long
frontage of wharves which extended in both directions to the groups
of mills at each end of the city. In one small section near the
river the district is low; in one part of this section when the tide
rises during especially stormy weather, water has been known to
flow over the sidewalks and the doorsteps, but it has generally sub
sided in a half hour or so. There was practically no home own
ership in this section, and rents were as low as accommodations were
poor. Here were the most congested parts of the city; a large pro
portion of the lots were covered by large block houses.
Considerable congestion also existed within the apartments. In
many cases a number of families lived together. In this neighbor
hood one of the agents of the bureau found five-room tenements
occupied b y from 15 to 18 people. Often the crowding was due to
a number of lodgers. In a four-room tenement, just north of the
business center, was found a family of seven, where lodgers were
taken for 10 cents a night to help pay the $2.50 a week rental. The
father, mother, and four children slept in one room, and one child
1 Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time of the study.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
56
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
in the kitchen; as many lodgers as possible were crowded into the
other two rooms, which were filled solidly with cots, six in one room
and four in the other. These were in use constantly for day and
night shifts. All windows were shut. The rooms were filthy and
had a foul odor.
y
Most of the basement dwellings found were located in this section.
Three young children were found living in two small, gloomy, damp
rooms in a basement in the north end. In another case, in the south
ern part of the section, a family of 10 lived in two cellar rooms. All
but 8 of the 21 children had died. The father was sick and could
not work. One older boy supported the family with the aid of the
mother, who took in washing. The family had other rooms upstairs,
but for the sake of economy in fuel these two dark, cellar rooms
were used for cooking, eating, and living rooms; the whole family
except one boy slept in these damp cellar rooms.
Types of houses.
In the river section the houses, though uniformly old and in dis
repair, were of three types— the mill-house type, the large block type,
and the oldresidence type.
Five groups of mill houses were in this section. The largest was
the group of some 30 houses built some time ago by one of the larger
mills just north of the plant. These were four-tenement houses, three
stories high, with two four-room apartments on each of the first and
second floors, one on each side of the house. The occupants of each
apartment had the use, also, of two rooms on the third floor, giving
each apartment six rooms in all.
A similar group of 50 houses lay to the west of those just men
tioned. The houses of these groups were identical except that in
the second group there were usually only two stories and two apart
ments of eight rooms each, four on each floor. This type is shown
in Plate II. These houses were built in bleakly symmetrical rows
with large undrained courts between, paved only with mud and
decorated with clothes poles* and fluttering rags. The toilets, damp
and dark, were in the cellars, one for every two apartments.
Another group of 27 newer tenements is illustrated in Plate III.
These were two-tenement houses with six rooms to the apartment
and with a toilet in each adjoining the kitchen. They were placed
with the same monotonous regularity but were more sightly because
of their new paint.
Other min houses were scattered in this end of the river district;
all were in poor repair; two contained 10 apartments each, with
toilets in the cellars.
In the southern end of the river section was a group of 20 mill
houses built in two long rows. Neither the street on which they
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
BP
PLATE
II.— T W O - F A M I L Y
M IL L HOUSES—ONE T O IL E T
TW O APARTMENTS.
IN C E L L A R FO R E A CH
PL A T E I I I . — PA RT OF A G R O U P O F 27 M I L L H O U S E S —T O I L E T A D J O I N I N G
K I T C H E N IN E A CH A P A R T M E N T .
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PL A TE IV.— B R I C K M I L L T E N EM E N T S —T O I LETS IN T H E CELLA RS .
P LA TE V — L A R G E B LO C K T E N E M E N T IN W H I C H 56 P E R S O N S W E R E L I V I N G —O N E T O I L E T IN T H E H A L L O N EACH FLOOR,
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PL A T E VI .— A P A R T IC U L A R L Y BAD B L O C K T E N E M E N T - C O N T A I N I N G
E IG H T SMALL APARTMENTS.
P L A T E V I I . — H O U S E C O N T A I N I N G S M A L L , IL L - P L A N N E D A P A R T M . E N T S — S T R E E T S A N D T H E Y A R D IN T H E REAR L I T T E R E D W I T H
R UB B IS H A N D GA R BA GE .
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PL A T E . V I I I — O L D C O T T A G E S RA IS ED , W I T H
STORES B UILT BENEATH
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P LA TE
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
X II— METHOD
OF M E E T I N G T H E F I R E R E G U L A T I O N S W H I C H R E Q U I R E
P E R P E N D I C U L A R S T A IR S O N T H E F R O N T OF T H E H O U S E .
TW O
E X IT S —A L M O S T
■AN OT H ER W A Y O F C O M P L Y I N G W I T H T H E F I R E R E G U L A T IO N S T W O T E N E M E N T S U S IN G A S I N G L E BACK E X IT .
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
57
faced nor the wide court or yard between the rows was paved. , Each
contained two apartments of six rooms with a toilet for each in the
hallway.
Another mill in the south end built 17 houses, some of which are
shown in Plate IV. Some of these houses contained two or four
tenements each, and three were large boarding houses. The toilets
were in the cellar. These were the only mill houses and almost the
only tenements in the city made of brick. They were built, not in
rows, but facing outward around the four sides of an unpaved and
undrained yard. They had recently been sold by the mill which
built them.
.
The large block house was most common along the business thor
oughfares, where the first floor was rented as a store. These houses
were almost always of frame construction, and those in this district
were very old and in bad repair. The hallways were dark and
narrow. The toilets were usually in the cellar, reached by steep,
narrow stairs at the back o f the building. A four-story square ten
ement in the north end of the river section contained 56 persons
above a fish market and a grocery store on the first floor. A
building with two tenement houses east of it is shown in Plate
V. There was one toilet on each floor in the hall. In all these
block tenements the tenants seemed to belong to the drifting or
transient element. In many of them lived groups of men without
families— Greeks, Poles, Turks, and Syrians.
A particularly bad block is shown in Plate V I; it was two stories
high and contained eight small tenements. At one time early in
the winter, water stood a foot deep in the cellar.
An interesting house is shown in Plate V II. This had been for
merly a seamen’s boarding house. A t the time of the study it was
filled with a very transient population, crowded into small ill-planned
apartments. One of the babies included in the study lived in this
block. The street along the side of the building was not paved,
and both the streets and the yard in the rear were littered with
rubbish and garbage.
Many of the old cottages along the business streets had been raised
and a store built underneath. This type is illustrated in Plate VTII,
where a raised cottage is shown in the foreground, with a block house
next to it and a number of raised cottages beyond. The picture was
taken in a section sometimes called “ Death’ s Hole.”
THE WELL-TO-DO SECTION.
Many of the best residences in the city were quite as old as the
dilapidated houses in the river section just described, but, sub
stantially built in the beginning, they had been kept in good repair,
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T M ORTALITY.
58
and were still fine, spacious, old residences. The well-to-do section
formed an L slightly to the southwest of the center of the city.
THE NATIVE-COLORED DISTRICT.
North and west of the well-to-do district and almost entirely
within the angle of the L which it formed was a section of old houses
inhabited at the time of the study by a colony of native-colored
people. These houses were probably of about the same date as the
houses in the river section and in the well-to-do section already de
scribed, but they resembled the dwellings of the former in their dilapi
dation and ill repair. As a rule they were of one or two stories;
there were a number of larger blocks. The streets in this section
were not paved. Dry privies were found in the yards.
A unique feature was the gay, picturesque coloring of the houses.
In Plate I X the house at the end of the street was of a quiet buff
color splashed with bright yellow, with bright blue blinds and steps.
A brown house at the left had patches of red, and on the right— next
to a dull blue cottage—part of a bright red house was visible.
On the streets near this court were several blocks which housed a
large number of families. It is interesting to note that in New Bed
ford no evidence was found of discrimination against colored per
sons in regard to the scale of rent or the condition in which the
dwellings were kept.
THE NEWER SECTION.
From the southern boundary of the city north to Tarkiln Hill
Road, which marked the southern limit of the rural district, stretched
the newer section of the city. Along the central part west of the
river district stood many comfortable and well-kept-up one and two
family houses, each surrounded by its own yard. Toward the south,
and also toward the north, the type of house changed to the three
and six family tenement house illustrated in Plate X . This type of
house, the “ three decker,” was the prevailing type. These houses
averaged five rooms to the apartment and were commonly built flush
with the sidewalk. They were of cheap frame construction, had
small porches, and varied only in minor details from one another.
The houses near the mills in the southwest part were older and the
sanitary accommodations not so good. All had water piped to the
kitchen or sink, but the toilets of the older houses were usually in
the hallways outside the apartment. The newer houses of this
section had a toilet and often a bathtub in each apartment. No
dry yard privies and few cellar toilets were reported in this part of
the city.
In the southwestern part of this section was “ Howland Village, ” a
group of mill-built houses which had been sold to individuals. This
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
59
group comprised 52 one-family six and eight room cottages, located
on winding lanes, each having its own porch and garden space.
They were provided with porcelain bathtubs. These cottages dif
fered from the ordinary mill tenement not only in size and in the
sanitary conveniences but also in attractiveness and Variety of
design; many of them were shingled, were attractively painted,
and had sloping roofs and dormer windows. Each cottage com
manded a view of Clarks Cove. See Plate X I .
Toward the West of this section were many one and two family
dwellings, inhabited for the most part b y persons of the white race
born in this country, and usually owned b y the occupant.
LEGISLATION.
Building in New Bedford had proceeded with little if any regu
lation. The only legislation that touched housing conditions was
contained in certain ordinances relating to nuisances, and in a State
law and in focal regulations for fire protection. An ordinance of 1907
provided that all dwellings of two or more tenements thereafter
erected should have not less than two inside stairways reaching each
floor on which there were living rooms. Under the Massachusetts
law of 1901 plans for buildings of more than two stories and designed
for use as dwellings above the second floor must provide proper exits
and fire stops approved by the city inspector of public houses. The
Massachusetts law further required that proper exits must be pro
vided for boarding, lodging, or tenement houses which housed 10 or
more persons above the second story. In addition to these adequate
laws for fire protection there was a State law allowing the local board
of health at its discretion to order vacated any dwelling which, by
reason of uncleanliness, excessive number of occupants, or any other
cause, was unfit for habitation. This law was permissive rather than
obligatory.
A more recent ordinance, which would not have had much influence
on conditions at the time of the study, provided that no frame builds
mg should be erected within 4 feet of the side or rear lines of a lot or
of a building on the same lot, or within 2 feet if the studding was
filled in with not less than 4 inches of solid brick work. A new
housing law which passed the legislature in 1915 was wider in scope
than the State law in force at the time of the study but of the same
nature, its enforcement being left entirely to the discretion of the
local board of health. According to this law the board of health
was authorized to limit the number of occupants in any tenement or
lodging house, and if the number were exceeded to order the premises
vacated, not to be occupied again until the board was satisfied that
its ruling would be complied with. The board was also permitted to
make “ such further regulations as to overcrowding, ventilation, and
154220°—20----- 5
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
60
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
occupation of such, houses and the cellars thereof not inconsistent
with other laws, as it m ay deem proper. 33 1
An illustration o f a common method of meeting the fire regulations
in the old remodeled houses is shown in Plate X II. Because two
exits were demanded a steep, almost perpendicular staircase was
built to connect with a narrow wooden porch along the front of the
house. A novel way of meeting this requirement of the law, in the
case of one of the larger houses, is illustrated in Plate X II I. Instead
of adding a stairway, the front and rear houses were connected by
porches; thus the oecupants o f each house had the U3e of two stair
ways. In case fire blocked the stairway in the front house, the occu
pants of this house could use the stairway at the rear; but if the rear
stairway were destroyed by fire the persons in the rear house would
have no means o f exit, since they would have to pass over the porches
to reach the stairways of the front house. In the case of another
large block the only means of communication between the front and
rear stairways was through a toilet located in the middle o f the house
and used b y occupants in both front and rear tenements. For some
of the large lodging and tenement houses fire escapes had been pro
vided, but often they had only wooden landings. These methods of
housing prevailed in the river section, where old houses had to be
remodeled.
LAND CONGESTION IN RELATION TO HOUSING.
That there was no extensive lot overcrowding in New Bedford was
due not to any building regulations but to the fact that in New
Bedford the land famine which causes congestion in larger eities had
not yet made itself felt. In almost every part o f the city except in
the business sections patches of unused land were still to be found.
The city had seven parks. The largest two, 88 and 94 acres,
respectively, were located one in the extreme western and the other
in the northern part of the city. Another park, 23 acres in extent,
was located in the south end of the city. The common, covering 7
acres, was a small, green, open space a few minutes’ walk from the
business center. The other parks were sm all Five playgrounds
were located in different parks in the city.
REGULATION.
The housing problem in New Bedford may on the whole be con
densed to one central question, that o f regulation. It was the lack of
regulation o f the old houses that had allowed the conditions of dilapi
dation and disrepair to go on unchecked in the river district and
parts of the colored district. The lack o f regulation of new buildings
i Special acts oi 1915, ch. 234.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
F E W BEDFOKD, MASS.
61
might easily bring to New Bedford the same evils of bad planning and
lot congestion which lack of control has brought to other cities. So
far as was found in the study there were no windowless rooms in
New Bedford, and there were only a few basement apartments in
use. The question of congestion in New Bedford was still largely
one of crowding within the apartment. There was no land famine;
but if the city continues its rapid increase, legislation will be needed
to prevent lot congestion. This legislation should not only regu
late the building of new tenements but should also cover the proper
repairing of old houses so that they may not fall into the insanitary
condition now existing in the old districts of New Bedford.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY.
For infants included in the study certain facts in regard to the
dwellings or apartments in which they spent the greater part of their
first year or of their lives 1 were noted on the schedule.
Among the homes of the babies in this study the five-room dwelling
predominated, 37 per cent of the births occurring in families living in
homes of that size. Four-room dwellings were next in number with
28 per cent, making 65 per cent of the births occurring in families
that were housed in dwellings of four or five rooms. The rents, too,
were not high, ranging from $2 to $3 a week for four- and five-room
dwellings. Only 17 families lived in dwellings of two rooms, and
only 1 family in one room. The last mentioned was a foreign family
consisting of three persons.2 One hundred and sixty-two, or 6 per
cent, of the births occurred in families living in homes of eight or
more rooms.
These figures in regard to number of rooms must be taken in con
nection with the number in the family before any idea of the adequacy
of the living quarters of a family can be secured. In the five-room
dwellings, for instance, there might be 3 or 10 in the family; the
average number of persons per room is the best measure of over
crowding.
Twelve hundred and fifteen, or 46 per cent, of the births were in
families having less than one person to a room ; the infant mor
tality rate for this group was 97. For the group which averaged
less than two but more than one person to a room the infant mortality
rate was 146; this group numbered 1,262, or 47 per cent of the
whole number. Six per cent of the families lived in congested
conditions, viz, with an average of from two to five persons per room;
the infant mortality rate for this last group was 222. There were
34 instances in which the number of persons per room was not
reported. (See Table X X V .)
1 For stillbirths the home scheduled was the one in which the mother spent the greater part of her preg
nancy.
a General Table 30.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
62
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T able X X V .— Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and number
and per cent o f stillbirths, according to average number o f persons per room.
Average number of persons per room,
a
Allclasses...........................................-
2 but less than 5.......... .................................
Not reported.................................................
a
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Stillbirths.
Infant
mortality
Per cent
rate.6 Number. of total
births.5
2,662
2,587
837
130.3
75
2.8
1,215
1,262
151
1,175
1,229
149
114
179
33
11
97.0
145.6
221.5
40
33
3.3
2.6
1.3
Excluding infants bom during selected year.
2
&Not shown where base is less than 100.
The mortality in these groups must not be considered as caused
solely by housing congestion. The families living in conditions of
congestion were undoubtedly those with the lowest earnings and the
lowest standards of living. Infants in these families were likely to
be handicapped by other factors, discussed in the preceding sections
of the report, such as artificial feeding or lack of care owing to the
employment o f the mother outside the home. All these factors
must be kept in mind in considering the above rates.
Nativity and housing.
The babies of foreign-bom mothers lived usually in more crowded .
quarters than the babies of native mothers. This condition was
caused not so much by the fact that the foreign-bom mother rented
a smaller dwelling as b y the fact that the family was larger. The
four- and five-room dwellings were most common among both the
nativity groups; but while 64 per cent of babies of native mothers
lived in dwellings averaging less than one person to a room, only 38
per cent of the babies of foreign-born mothers had the advantage of
similar housing conditions. .
Housing in “ unfavorable ” area.
Practically all the poor housing in New Bedford was foupd in the
“ unfavorable” area— precincts 1, 2, 3, 13, and 17.1 The greatest
congestion within the home also occurred in this seetion. While 57
per cent of the births outside this area occurred in families who lived
under comfortable conditions, viz, with less than one person per room,
only 37 per cent in this area were in families enjoying like conditions.
Seventy-eight per cent o f the births occurring in families with two
or more 2 persons to a room were found in this area.
iW ards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time of the study.
* Derived from Table X X V and General Table 31.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
63
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
ILLEGITIMACY.
Infants of unmarried mothers in the city of New Bedford were
made the subject of a special study. The conditions under which
they live differ from those of a normal family and, though the facts
concerning them were not comparable to those concerning infants
born in wedlock, the mortality rate and the social and economic
Conditions surrounding these children are of particular interest.
In the State of Massachusetts the certificate of birth contains no
statement in regard to legitimacy. I t is contrary to law to return
any facts on a birth certificate about the father of a child of illegiti
mate birth unless both father and mother consent in writing. Not
even the name of the father may be made a matter of record. Con
sequently the omission of the father’s name in most cases 1 indicates
that the birth was illegitimate. The total of registered illegitimate
births in New Bedford in the selected year was 104, exclusive of 3
foundlings for whom the»facts could not be ascertained. The pro
portion of illegitimate in the total number of registered births was
2.9 per cent. This is a relatively low percentage compared with
percentages for foreign countries.2 Little American material is
available on this point.3
COMPARATIVE RATES FOR MASSACHUSETTS CITIES.
A compilation of returns of registered births filed in the statehouse at Boston shows the percentage of illegitimate to total registered
births for the 12 Massachusetts cities with a population (in 1910) of
50,000 and over. New Bedford had the highest percentage of ille
gitimate births of any city except Boston. The figures quoted are
for the year 1914.
Per cent.
Cambridge............................. ^. . ....................... ....................................- - ............ 1
Lawrence................................................................................ .......................................
Somerville.......................................................................
LI
Lowell................................. ....................................................................- ................ L 5
Springfield................................................................................................................L 5
Fall R iv e r..................................... ................................... - .................................... 1-6
B rockton .................................................................................. ....................... — 1-8
Lynn.....................................................- ................................................... 1*8
Worcester...............................................................................................................
2 .1
Holyoke...............- ...................- ......................................?------ : ........................... 2. 8
New Bedford............... - ............................................................... ......................... 2. 9
Boston........................................................................................................................ 8.9
The illegitimacy rate for New Bedford for 1914 was the same as
for 1913.
1 In the course of securing information from the mother, several exceptions to this rule were found.
* Statistique Internationale du Mouvement dela Population, 1901-1910.
* A report entitled “ Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem, Pt. 2: A Study of Original Records in the
City of Boston and the State of Massachusetts,” is in course of preparation by the Children’s Bureau.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
64
IN F A N T M ORTALITY.
SECURING OF DATA.
Complete schedules were obtained for 54 of the total of 104 illegi
timate births in New Bedford, and for 9 more part of the information
was secured, leaving 41 for whom no data could be obtained. The
difficulty in securing schedules from the unmarried mothers was due
in part to the large number of removals from town of mothers of this
group.
INFANT MORTALITY RATE FOR INFANTS OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH.
Among the 63 births investigated 2 stillbirths and 18 deaths
occurred; in 2 cases it was not reported whether the child survived
the first year or not. The infant mortality rate for this group was
therefore 305. I f the entire group o f 101 live births is compared
with the 35 known deaths in this group as shown by death certi
ficates, the infant mortality rate was even higher, 347. This rate
was over two and a half times as high as the rate for infants of
legitimate birth.
Several causes are responsible for the excessive mortality among
infants of illegitimate birth. The mother often does not have proper
care during pregnancy. After confinement she is in many cases
obliged to seek employment to support herself and her child. Many
unmarried mothers, in a desire for concealment, arrange to have
the infant cared for away from home. Often the child is placed in
a cheap boarding home or in an institution, where his chances of sur
vival are diminished. In either case the infant is deprived of breast
feeding and a mother’s care.
CARE IN CONFINEMENT.
The care received by the unmarried mothers in confinement is
shown in the following table:
Total..................................... ......................... ............................... .............. 104
In hospitals.................................................................................... .......... ..............
In almshouses............................... .................................................................... ..
In private home, by physician.................................................- - - -V............
In private home, by midwife............................................................................
In private home, by neighbor..............................................................- ..........
In private home, no attendant............................................. ...........................
Report of care not.given................................................................................... -
22
2
42
22
4
2
10
DISPOSITION OF INFANTS.
Of the 63 infants of illegitimate birth for whom partial or complete
schedules were obtained, 6 were stillborn or died in the first two
weeks of life; of the remaining 57, 9 lived with both parents, 28
remained with the mothers, 2 were supported b y the fathers in the
fathers’ parental homes, and 18 were placed in institutions, boarded
out, cared for by relatives, or adopted. The mortality rates for each
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
65
class were high,'but the numbers were too small to admit of com
parison by groups. The number of removals of these infants before
the final disposition as reported above was made may have been a
factor in the high mortality among them. There were 36 shifts
made, involving 27 babies.
NATIONALITY.
Of the 63 infants for whom nationality data were obtained, 25, or
two-fifths, were born to native mothers. Five each were bom in
the groups of Portuguese white, Portuguese Negro, and French.
Canadian; and the rest were born in the Polish, English, Irish, and
German groups. The large proportion of native white among these
mothers is noteworthy, since the percentage of native white among
the mothers of legitimate births was only 28.
COURT ACTION.
The father of a child of illegitimate birth, after paternity has been
established b y a court, is liable under the law of Massachusetts in
force since July, 1913, to pay confinement expenses and to “ con
tribute reasonably to the support of the child during minority.”
Court proceedings were begun in the cases of 16 of the 104 illegiti
mate births in this study. Five were not brought to trial because
the defendant could not be found. In 9 of the remaining 11 cases
some provision for the child was made. A very small percentage,
then, received aid through court action. Many mothers, of course,
do not resort to the court because of the publicity involved and so
lose the opportunity of getting such aid as might enable them to
keep their children with them.
AGE AND OCCUPATION OF MOTHER.
A classification by age and occupation of mother affords an indica
tion of the special circumstances in which these children of illegitimate
birth lived during their first year. In 44 per cent of the 63 cases of
illegitimate birth for which information was secured, the mothers
were extremely young— under 20; and in only about 16 per cent
were the mothers over 30. In 35 cases, or 56 per cent, the mothers
worked in cotton mills; in 8, in domestic service; and the mothers
of the rest were employed in 13 other occupations. In 5 cases
employment was not reported. Only 1 was reported to have had no
gainful employment during the year before the child’s birth. Ten
mothers did not return to work the year after the birth of the infant.
The father’s occupation was determined in 52 of the cases scheduled;
in 11 instances the father worked in the mills, in 2 cases the father
did not work, and in the remaining cases various occupations were
reported.
i Acts of 1913, ch. 563 (in force since July, 1913).
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
66
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
SU M M AR Y AND CONCLUSIONS.
New Bedford is a manufacturing city whose chief industry is
cotton textiles. A large proportion of •the population of the city
was foreign bom , especially Portuguese and French Canadian; a
large proportion of women worked in the mills. Wages in New
Bedford were low.
INFANT MORTALITY RATE.
The study of infant mortality in New Bedford included a total of
2,662 births. The infant mortality rate for the 2,587 live births
was 130.3, a very high rate when compared with the rate of 100 for
the birth registration area in 1915. The mortality rate in precincts
1, 2, 3, 13, and 17,1 constituting the so-called “ unfavorable” area,
was 156.6 as contrasted with the figure of 94.6 for the rest of the city.
In the precincts mentioned were most of the colonies of foreign
nationalities, including a very large proportion of the French Cana
dians, Portuguese, and Poles— groups in which the infant mortality
rates were high.
NATIONALITY.
Almost three-fourths of the mothers of the study were foreign
bom . The mortality rate for infants of foreign-bom mothers was
138.9 as contrasted with 108.4 for infants of native mothers. The
largest nationality group represented was the Portuguese white, who
contributed one-fourth of the births in the selected group, and who
had the highest mortality rate in the city, 200.9. The FrenehCanadian group was next in size; it had an infant mortality rate of
115.5. The Poles had a rate of 119.8, and the English, 100.9.
A large proportion of the foreign-bom mothers, and particularly
of the Portuguese, were illiterate, or unable to speak English, or
both. The mortality rate for infants of illiterate mothers was 188,
as contrasted with 107.1 for babies whose mothers could read and
write. Among infants bom to mothers of non-English-speaking
nationalities, the mortality rate for the group whose mothers were
able to speak English was 97.4 as contrasted with the rate of 180.4
for those whose mothers were unable to speak English. Mothers of
584 infants could neither read, write, nor speak English. The rate
for this group was 203.
CAUSE OF DEATH.
Gastric and intestinal diseases caused 37.1 per cent of all deaths
of infants in this study. Compared with other cities studied b y the
bureau, the mortality rate from gastric and intestinal diseases was
nearly four times as high in New Bedford as in Bro'ckton and nearly six
i Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct fines existing at the time o f the study.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
67
times as high as in Saginaw; in both the textile towns, Manchester
and New Bedford, the rate from gastric and intestinal diseases was
high, in Manchester even higher than in New Bedford.
The rate from these causes was over three times as high for infants
of Portuguese-white mothers as for infants of native mothers.
The mortality from respiratory diseases was higher in New Bedford
than in any other city studied by the bureau, although only slightly
higher than for Johnstown and Manchester. Practically all the ex
cessive mortality from respiratory and gastric and intestinal diseases
was due to the heavy mortality among infants of Portuguesewhite mothers.
The rate for deaths from causes peculiar to early infancy was
lower in New Bedford than in any city previously studied by the
bureau.
ATTENDANT AT BIRTH.
Seventy-three per cent of the births of the study were attended by
physicians and 23 per cent by midwives. Among the foreign bom
30 per cent of the births were attended by midwives. The Portu
guese white had the largest proportion of confinements thus attended.
FEEDING.
The average mortality among artificially fed infants was approxi
mately four and one-half times the rate among infants breast fed. A
great difference was shown in the rates for artificially fed infants of
native and of foreign-born mothers, the rate for the latter being
nearly one and one-half times as high as the rate for the former.
FATHER’ S EARNINGS.
Fathers of 41 per cent of the babies in this study worked in the
cotton mills during the greater part of the year following the babies’
births. Three-fourths of the infants were bom in families where the
father earned less than $850 a year.
In the group of infants whose fathers earned less than $450 a year,
comprising over one-fifth of all the births, the infant mortality rate
was 201.9. With one exception the rate decreased as the fathers’
earnings increased, to the low rate of 59.9 for infants whose fathers
earned $1,250 or over. In the lowest earnings group 1 live-bom
baby in every 5 died before reaching its first birthday; in the highest
earnings group only 1 in 17 died.
GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHER.
Forty-seven per cent of the births were to mothers gainfully em
ployed during the year preceding the baby’s birth and 41 per cent
to those so employed during the year following. The lower the
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
68
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
earnings of the father, the higher was the proportion of mothers
gainfully employed. Very few of the hirths were to mothers gain
fully employed where the father earned over $850. Gainful em
ployment away from home during the year following the birth of the
infant usually involved early artificial feeding.
The mortality rate for infants of mothers who were gainfully em
ployed prior to the birth was 154.5, as contrasted with a rate of 108.8
for infants of mothers not employed.
The mortality among infants of mothers who were gainfully em
ployed away from home during the lifetime of the infants was approx
imately one and one-half times the average mortality.
CIVIC AGENCIES.
The Instructive Nurses Association carried on the infant-welfare
work during the summer months from the milk stations, but at the
time of the study these nurses were able to care for but a small pro
portion of the infants in the city. Experience has shown that infantwelfare centers are the most effective means of giving practical in
struction to the mothers in the right methods of caring for their ba
bies and medical advice and trained-nursing care for the babies who
are in especial need of them. In addition, facilities for public-health
nursing should be sufficient to assure prenatal and postnatal care and
instruction to those mothers who would otherwise be neglected, and
these special services to mothers as well as to babies should be acces
sible to all.
During the years following this study, by means of printed pam
phlets, advertisements, the lecture hall, and the motion-picture the
ater the city health department has done valuable work in dissemi
nating knowledge of simple health precautions against the spread of
disease. Such methods, applied to the problems of infant welfare,
have been found effective.
CONTRAST BETWEEN NEW BEDFORD AND BROCKTON.
Conditions in New Bedford are particularly striking in contrast to
those in Brockton, the only other Massachusetts city studied. In
the selected groups, New Bedford had the higher rate, 130.3, as
compared to 96.7 in Brockton. Perhaps the most striking difference
between the two cities, in so far as the explanation of the difference
in the infant mortality rate is concerned, is in the nationality com
position. New Bedford has a large proportion of Portuguese, with
the excessively high infant mortality rate of 200.9; Brockton had
no large single group with so high a rate, and indeed, the largest
group, composed of Lithuanians and Poles, had an infant mortality
rate of only 115.6. If the Portuguese group, with its high birth rate
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
69
and high mortality rate, were omitted from New Bedford, the rate
would have been only 103.7, or much more nearly like that of
Brockton.
A second point of contrast is found in the much larger proportion
of the births in New Bedford that occurred in the lower economic
groups. Three-eighths of the births occurred in families in which
the father earned less than $550; in Brockton only one-eighth o f the
births were in such families. Twenty-five per cent of the births in
New Bedford were in families whose fathers earned $850 or over; in
Brockton 45 per cent earned over this amount. Evidently, since the
infant mortality rate falls as the father’s earnings increase,, the
infants in Brockton had a much better chance of survival than those
in New Bedford.
A third point of difference lies in the proportion of mothers gain
fully employed away from home. In Brockton mothers of less than
4 per cent of the infants were so employed during the year following
the baby’s birth; while in New Bedford mothers of 22 per cent were so
employed. During the year preceding the birth, 12 per cent of the
mothers were gainfully employed away from home in Brockton as
contrasted with 33 per cent for New Bedford.
The difference in the rates for the two cities is the more remarkable,
since in type of feeding given to the babies New Bedford shows a larger
proportion exclusively breast fed in each month of life.
. These are the principal points of difference: New Bedford had
lower standards of living, a larger proportion of mothers gainfully
employed, a more difficult problem of assimilation of foreign elements.
These differences reflect themselves in the excessively high mortality
from gastric and intestinal diseases (nearly four times that of Brock
ton) and from respiratory diseases (over twice the Brockton rate).
Deaths from these causes are easily preventable; with proper care and
feeding most of them would not occur. Relatively, New Bedford
has a much larger and more difficult problem than Brockton in
reducing its infant mortality rate.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
APPENDIX.
METHOD OF PROCEDURE.
Scope of inquiry.
In the law creating the Children’ s Bureau, passed by the Sixtysecond Congress, infant mortality was specified first in the list of
subjects to be studied. The mortality among infants under 1 year
is higher than mortality at any other period of life except old age.
The report of the Census Bureau on mortality statistics showed
that in 1910 for every 1,000 live births registered in the deathregistration States there were 124 deaths under 1 year of age.1 In
1915, in the birth-registration area, including the New England States,
New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and the District o f
Columbia, for every 1,000 live births registered there were 100
infant deaths. In these States the infant mortality rate varied from
70 to 120 for the State as a whole, while for cities in these States
having in 1910 a population of 25,000 or over the range of the rates
was much greater— from 54 in Brookline and Malden, Mass., to 196
in Shenandoah, Pa.
T a b l e I.
Infant mortality rates for States in the birth-registration area:
State.
Connecticut................................
Maine.......... » ...................
Massachusetts.................................
Michigan............................
Minnesota........... I...............
Infant
mortality
rate.
1117
105
101
86
70
State.
1915
a
Infant
mortality
rate.
Pennsylvania..................
85
“ Ü. S. Bureau of the Census, Birth Statistics, 1915, p. 10, Washington, 1917.
It is evident from these figures that conditions in some States and
in some cities are much more favorable than in others. On the
causes of low or high mortality the figures of the Census Bureau
throw little light. I f inquiries were made in restricted areas and
information on the physical, social, economic, and civic conditions
were secured for all births and for all deaths under 1 year it would
be possible to determine the underlying causes that favor a low
mortality or produce a high rate.
1 The rate is too high since the registration o f births was incomplete in these States; in many of them it
was very deficient. Figures are shown for the death-registration States o f 1911 and are for 1910, except
in Kentucky and Missouri, where births mid deaths are for 1911.
71
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
72
With this object in view the Children’s Bureau selected a number
of cities that offered contrasts in economic, industrial, and social
conditions in which to make intensive studies of the conditions of
infant life and infant mortality. The choice of the first cities to be
studied was limited for practical reasons to cities with accepted birth
registration, on account of the facilities afforded by the birth records
for ascertaining the residence of the mothers to be interviewed. It
was further necessary to choose cities of such size that they could be
covered thoroughly within a reasonable time by the few agents avail
able for the work. Certain characteristics of the cities chosen are
summarized in Table II. All were manufacturing cities, the popula
tions ranging in 1910 from 50,000 to 100,000. All had a large foreign
element. In addition, judging by the provisional figures available
when the choice was determined upon, every city with the exception
of Brockton had a high infant mortality rate.
T a b l e I I .— Population in 1910, infant mortality rates 1910 and 1915, percentage o f adult
population foreign born, principal foreign nationality, and principal industry o f the
cities chosen for infant mortality studies.
Infan mor
tality rai es.
City.
Popula
tion in
1910.
a
Johnstown, Pa............
Manchester, N. H .......
Brocton, Mass..............
Saginaw, Mich.............
New Bedford, Mass. . .
Waterbury, Conn.......
Akron, Ohio.................
55,482
70,063
56,878
50,510
96,652
73,141
69,067
1910
165
193
99
145
177
149
123
Per
centage
of adult
popula
tion over
20,foreign
b 1915
bom ,
1910.
116
150
82
101
143
143
39.9
56.1
37.3
33.7
59.0
50.5
26.0
Principal foreign
nationality.«
Varied Slavic <*............
French-Canadian........
Lithuanian..................
German........................
Portuguese...................
Italian..........................
German........................
Principal industry.
Iron and steel.
Cotton textiles.
Shoe manufacture.
Varied industries.
Cotton textiles.
Brass manufacture.
Rubber factory.
Figures published by the TJ. S. Bureau of the Census, Bulletin 109, Mortality Statistics, m o , pp. 18-19,
provisional figures for births. The rate for Akron, Ohio, was furnished by the Ohio State registrar,
b U. S.^ureau of the Census, Birth Statistics, 1915, Washington, 1917. The rate for Saginaw, Mich.,
was bosed on State (final) figures for b ir t h s ........................, .
. . , .
. ... _ . . .
c Principal foreign nationality of mothers of infants included in the infant mortality studies.
d No particular Slavic group of sufficient importance to mention separately.
a
based m
Infant mortality rate.
An infant mortality rate expresses the probability of a live-bom
infant dying before his first birthday and is usually stated as the
number of deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births.1
The usual approximate method of finding the infant mortality rate
for a certain area is to divide the number of registered deaths of
infants under 1 year of age occurring in a given calendar year by the
number of registered live births in the same year. The number of
deaths thus secured includes not only deaths of infants bom in the
same calendar year, but also some deaths of infants born in the
i stillbirths are omitted from both births and deaths.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
73
preceding year or in a different area; it excludes deaths of infants
included in the group of births if the death occurred either in a
different area or in the following calendar year. The two numbers—
of deaths and births— do not refer to the same group o f infants. To
avoid this inaccuracy, the method employed by the Children’s Bureau
in all studies has been to follow each infant born in a given selected
year in a certain area for a period of 12 months. The deaths among
these infants are then compared to the births. In this way the deaths
include no infants not included in the births’ and the true probability
of dying in the first year of life is secured.
The chief difficulty, in practice, in computing infant mortality rates
arises from the incompleteness of registration of births and deaths.
On account of differences and changes in completeness of registration,
it is not always safe to compare infant mortality rates in cities with
those in country districts; in one State with those in another; in one
city with rates in another; or even to compare rates in one year with
those for preceding years in the same city. I f the per cent of omis
sions of deaths under 1 year of age is equal to the per cent of omis
sions of births, the infant mortality rate, though based on incomplete
data, will still be correct. In general, however, death registration is
better than birth registration. I f birth registration is more defective
than registration of infant deaths, the infant mortality will be too
high. Inaccuracies will affect not only the general rate for a given
area but may affect also the comparability of the rates for different
classes within the area. In an analysis of births and deaths by race
and nativity classes, if the degree of completeness of registration
varies with the different classes, the rates found by dividing the
deaths b y the births may not be comparable. For the purpose of
these investigations comparable rates are essential.
I t is not o f so much importance that the rate secured shall charac
terize general conditions of infant mortality for a given area as that
rates for the different nativity classes, earnings groups, and other
subclasses shall indicate the true differences for the area in the
incidence of infant deaths. There are two methods of treating the
original data to make them more serviceable for this purpose. One
is to exclude the least accurate material, where it is known to be
incomplete or inaccurate; the other is to make a selection of material
on some unbiased basis and use the data selected as representative
of the city. An alternative policy is so to supplement the original
data that the figures used include all the evidence applicable to the
groups studied in the city.
Certain groups for which the information is inaccurate or incom
plete have been excluded in all the studies made b y the bureau. The
groups for which the rates are most open to question and most diffi-
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
74
IN F A N T M ORTALITY.
cult to obtain are illegitimate births, births in families that have
moved away, and births to nonresident mothers.
The first of the groups that have been excluded from the general
analysis is the group of illegitimate births. The information secured
is probably not so complete as for legitimate births; furthermore,
it relates to an abnormal family group. Special studies of mortality
rates for illegitimate children have been made for one or two cities,
but the data can not be considered so satisfactory as those presented
in the general analysis.
Births to mothers who moved away in the first year of the infant’s
life form the second group of exclusions. The information as to the
number of deaths that occurred in this group is not complete. Ob
viously, if the infant moved away from the city after the first few
weeks or months of life, his death, if he died, would not be registered
in the city. Deaths registered in the city of infants born to mothers
who later moved away also have to be excluded. Otherwise the
rates would be biased by the exclusion of live births only, with no
exclusion of infant deaths to correspond.
A third group of exclusions is the births to nonresident mothers.
These were excluded not only on the ground that in most cases the
infant did not live in the city during his entire first year of life but
also on the ground that the conditions under which nonresident
mothers lived prior to coming to the city may be different from those
of the average mother in the city. In order to make the rate as
characteristic of the city as possible these births were excluded.
Births to mothers who could not be found were also excluded. In
such cases the probability was that the mother had moved away.
No reliable information could be secured about these cases and hence
the only safe policy was to exclude them.
In practice, since the agent’s visit always was made after the first
anniversary of the birth of the child— in some cases a year or more
afterwards— births were excluded if the mother had moved away
from the city prior to the agent’s visit and could not be found at this
time.1
The data submitted in the report apply, therefore, to births in the
city during the selected year to resident married mothers who lived
there during the child’s first year and were found there at the time
of the agent’s visit.
i The rulings in two special cases might he mentioned: (1) I f the mother died during the child’s first
year, the birth was included if the infant (or, in case of death, his family) had lived in the city during the
first year after his birth. (2) In a few cases mother and child were away from the city for a part only of
the child’s first year, and later moved back and were found b y the agent. In the cities first studied agents
were not instructed to inquire as to continuousresidence in the city. If, however, the fact that the mother
had moved away for a period was noted, the birth was excluded in tabulation if the absence from the city
had been three months or more.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD; MASS.
75
Though the records for births to resident married mothers are
much more complete and satisfactory than for all births in the city„
there still remains the difficulty that differences in the completeness
of registration for different groups may affect the comparability of
rates. If all births and all infant deaths were registered, the rates
for these groups would be correct. It was found, however, in exam
ining the birth and death certificates that occasionally a death had
been registered of an infant born in the city whose birth had not been
recorded. Obviously, the more incomplete the birth records are the
more frequently such cases would occur.
There were three possible methods of meeting this difficulty. The
first was to accept these death records and treat them as if the births
had been recorded. The second was to make a selection of births
and include only deaths among the births selected, the obvious basis
of selection being the fact of registration of birth. The third was to
attempt to complete the records of births and of deaths by a canvass.
The first method was rejected in favor of the second and third, on
the ground that the inclusion of all these death records would tend
to exaggerate the mortality rates.
The second method was followed in Manchester, Brockton, and
New Bedford. In Brockton and New Bedford as in other cities in
Massachusetts a special canvass was made to check up registration of
births during the preceding year. Consequently, in these cities a
birth might have been registered either by the physician soon after
the birth or by the special canvasser on his visit. All births recorded,
whether regularly registered or added by this special canvass, were
treated as registered for the purposes of this study.
The third method, or a modification of it, was followed in the other
cities studied. In Johnstown, Pa., the original plan was to limit the
investigation to registered births in 1911. But during the progress
of the investigation it was found that many births to Serbian mothers
escaped registration, and it was thought that this group was too
important to be omitted entirely. Accordingly, the birth records
were supplemented by the baptismal records of the Serbian church,
and a canvass was made of the principal Serbian quarter. Agents
were instructed to take schedules for any infants found who were
born in Johnstown in 1911, even if the birth had not been recorded.
In Saginaw the registered births were supplemented by the births
secured in various ways— from death certificates, baptismal records,
through neighborhood inquiries, and other sources. The agent
calling on each mother inquired if there were other children in the
neighborhood of about the same age. By these means 116 births
to resident married mothers were added. Three unregistered deaths
were added to the 113 recorded.
154220°— 20------6
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INFANT MOBTALITY.
76
With the general plan of the investigation determined, the more
important points in the detailed procedure were as follow s: The first
step was to copy the birth certificates for the year selected; then the
death certificates for the year selected and the year following were
examined and the facts as to birth and death for infants bom in the
year selected were transferred to the schedules. These records usu
ally gave the address of the mother, though not in all eases the present
address. In cities where a canvass was made, the actual address of
the mother was found directly. If the mother had moved, the agent
attempted to learn from the neighbors her present address in the city
or whether she had moved away. Most of the information contained
in these reports is derived from the answers secured from the mothers
interviewed. Since the bureau has no power nor desire to compel
answers, the information secured was based on the voluntary state
ments of the mothers. To the willingness of the mothers to answer
all questions and to cooperate in every way is due the completeness
of the records ; upon this completeness the value of much of the infor
mation depends.
In comparing, then, the rates for the group included in the study
with the rates for the corresponding calendar year computed in the
ordinary manner, the following points must be borne in m ind:
First. In rates computed by the ordinary method the deaths and
births occur in the same year. In rates for the bureau studies the
births in a selected year are compared to the deaths among them.
The deaths are scattered over a period of two years, including the
selected year and the year following.
Second. Illegitimate births are excluded from these studies.1 The
death rate for illegitimate births is usually considerably higher than
the average rate. The rates as shown in these studies, therefore,
may be expected to be somewhat lower than the rates as usually
computed.
Third. Births to nonresident mothers are excluded in order to
make the rates as characteristic as possible of the conditions o f the
locality studied.
Fourth. Births of infants whose mothers moved away during the
year following the birth and deaths that occurred in this group are
excluded, because in the absence of data on age at removal it is im
possible to use the figures except on the basis of arbitrary assumption.
Deaths in the city of infants horn elsewhere are also excluded because
there is no information on age at migration. This policy, of course,
excludes infant deaths in foundling asylums, if the birth did not
occur in the city.
i Except for Johnstown., where iilegitixnate births were included.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFOKD, MASS.
77
Fifth. In some of the cities rates are based on the deaths among
the registered births. Infant deaths where the birth was not recorded
have therefore been omitted, to correspond with the probable omission
o f infants surviving the first year of life, whose births were not re
corded.
Finally, in other cities the birth records have been completed or
supplemented by a canvass or by other means. In these cases it is
easy to show from the incompleteness' of the official records that the
rates computed in the usual way on the basis of these records are
much less accurate than the rates given in these studies for the
included groups.
Live births excluded in New Bedford.
With the foregoing explanation of the method of procedure in mind
the significance of the exclusions and the rates for the excluded
groups may be more easily grasped. During the selected year there
were 3,542 known live births in New Bedford; of these, 346 had moved
out of town and no trace of 441 could be found, a total of 787.
One
hundred and fifty-three of this group died in the first year, giving a
rate of 194.4. These deaths registered in the city probably do not
include all deaths in this group, since some infants may have died
after leaving New Bedford and their deaths have not been recorded
in the city.
In 14 instances the births were excluded on account of incomplete
or unreliable data; in 4 of these cases the infant died.
Among the 59 five births excluded on account of nonresidence of
the mother, 5 deaths occurred in the city. In most cases these moth
ers probably left the city soon after the birth of the child. The mor
tality rate, therefore, probably represents an understatement of the
true rate for this group.
Forty-nine births to mothers resident in the city both at the time
of the infant's birth and at the agent’s visit were excluded on the
ground of illegitimacy. Fourteen, or over one-fourth, of these babies
died before the first birthday. This number, 49, does not represent
all the illegitimate births in the city, since others were excluded on
grounds of nonresidence or lack of information.
Forty-six births were excluded on the ground that the birth had
not been registered. Six of these babies died under 1 year of age.
The mortality rate for this group was almost exactly equal to the rate
for the births included in the study. Because no attempt was made
to supplement records of births by a canvass of the city it was deemed
advisable not to include these unregistered births.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
78
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e I I I .— Registered and unregistered live births in New Bedford, infant deaths, and
infant mortality rate for births included in andfor births excludedfrom detailed analysis,
by reason for exclusion.
.
Inclusions or exclusions and reasons
for exclusion.
Total known live births.........
Births
Births
Births unreg
Births unreg
Regis Un
Total. tered. regis Total. regis ister Total. regis ister
tered. ed.
tered. ed.
tered.
Not found..........................
Data incomplete or unreliable.
Nonresident........................... .
Removed................................ .
Illegitimacy............ ......................
Nonregistration of births.............
a
49
519
513
. 906
49
337
182
337
176
857
3
162
162
84
4
3,542
3,493
2 587
2 587
Total live births included.............
Total live births excluded............. _ ,955
Reasons for exclusion:
Nonresidence or lack of informamation: Total..............................
Infant mortality
rate.«
Infant deaths.
Live births.
860
14
59
34ft
49
46
441
14
346
69
84
4
5
69
49
14
14
3
46
6
6
146.5
146.9
6
130.3
190.6
130.3
194.3 ...........
188.4
189.0
190. 5 190.5
199.4
199.4
6
Not shown where base is less than 100.
From these figures light may he thrown upon the completeness of
birth registration in New Bedford. Of the total of 3,542 live births,
49 were unregistered, giving a percentage unregistered of 1.4 per cent.
This percentage of course would be an understatement, since a few
additional unregistered births might have occurred.
The infant mortality rate for the births included in the study was
130.3. For the excluded groups the rate varied with the reason for
exclusion. The rate for illegitimate births was very high. The rate
for nonresident was relatively low, but probably not all the deaths
wer^ included. The rate for cases where the mother was not found
or had moved away from the city was considerably higher than the
rate for the selected group, but probably less than the true rate. The
rate for the excluded group as a whole, 190.6, is not significant unless
taken in connection with the reasons for exclusion. The rate for all
live births in the city, both included and excluded, was 146.5, but
this rate, too, is not so significant in many ways as the rate for' the
group included in the study.
Stillbirth rates.
Stillbirth rates were formed by dividing the number of stillbirths
by the total number of births, live and stillbirths. A stillbirth is
defined as a dead-born issue of seven or more months’ gestation.
Miscarriages, or dead-born issues of less than seven months’ gestation,
were excluded.
A policy of exclusions was followed similar to that for infant mor
tality. .Stillbirths to nonresident mothers were excluded because of
the possible effect of other conditions; likewise stillbirths to mothers
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
79
who moved away prior to the visit of the agent. In the latter cases
the information would have been difficult to obtain, and there was
the same chance of omission of births as in calculating the infant
mortality rate.
With reference to the accuracy of the data the registration of still
births has a peculiar margin of error of its own. Usually a still
birth must be registered both as a death and as a birth; in some
States the law is not clear whether stillbirths have to be registered
at all, and in others miscarriages as well as stillbirths must be regis
tered. I t sometimes happens that a stillbirth is registered as a
“ death” but not as a “ birth” where registration of both is required
by law. It is obvious that such an omission is one of carelessness
only, as ordinarily the same person, usually a physician, would
register both.
The number of unregistered stillbirths would be difficult to deter
mine. It would be much more difficult to find cases of omission of
stillbirths by canvass or other inquiry than to find cases of omission
of registration of live births. Omissions might be due to ignorance
of the law or failure to observe it. Doctors are probably more con
versant with the law than midwives. There is chance for confusion
between stillbirths ,and infant deaths on the one hand, where it is
difficult to determine whether or not the child was born alive; and
between stillbirths and miscarriages on the other, where it is difficult
to state accurately the number of months of gestation. If the law
requires the reporting of miscarriages, the number of stillbirths is
probably more complete than where they are not reported.
In the stillbirth rates presented in the infant mortalitv reports of
the Children’s Bureau, the stillbirths to resident married mothers
that were registered either as births or deaths have been compared
to the registered births to resident married mothers for Manchester,
Brockton, and New Bedford; in other cities the figure for stillbirths
is compared to the total registered and known unregistered births to
resident married mothers.
T
able
IV .
Stillbirths and miscarriages in New Bedford included in and excluded from
detailed analysis, by reason for exclusion.
Total known stillbirths and miscarriages.
Total, stillbirths included.............................
Total, stillbirths and miscarriages excluded.
Reasons for exclusion:
Nonresidence or lack of information: Total.
Not found.................................
Data incomplete or unreliable.
N onresident......... ...................
Removed............................."
Miscarriages.......................................
Stillbirths on account of illegitimacy.’
N onregistration of birth.........
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
143
80
UDE&STX M ORTALITY.
Stillbirths excluded.
There were 143 known stillbirths and miscarriages in New Bedford.
Of these 24 were excluded because they were miscarriages of less than
seven months’ gestation. Thirty-eight more were excluded because
the mothers had moved out of the city or were nonresident or because
information was lacking. In these cases it could not always be deter
mined definitely whether the birth was a stillbirth or a miscarriage.
There were 81 stillbirths to mothers resident in the city both at the
time of the birth of the child and at the agent’s visit. Five of these
were excluded on aecount of illegitimacy and one on account of non
registration of the birth. The rate for the included group is formed
by dividing 75 stillbirths by the 2,662 registered births included in
the study giving a rate of 2.8 per cent. No rate can be formed for
the nonresident, not found, or removed groups, because it can not be
determined from the records whether or not the birth was a stillbirth
or a miscarriage.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
GENERAL TABLES.
T
able
1.
Births during selected year in each precinct o f residence, according to nationality
o f mother.a
Births during selected yeaf.
Nationality of mother.
Precinct of residence.
Total.
1
3
2
4
5
6
9 10 1 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
-- — — --- - —
•--- *——
2,662 478 300 197 71 108 81 49 22 60 34 47 55 234 49 66 248 318 245
7
All mothers.........................
Native mothers..........................
Foreign-bom mothers....................
8
—
.
—
753 106 71 28 23 49 47 18 17 46 16 28 35 27 33 35 63 50 61
1,909 372 229 169 48 59 34 31 5 14 18 19 20 207 16 31 185 268 184
Portuguese white................
Portuguese Negro................
French Canadian....................
Canadian (except French)___
English......................
Polish....................................
Irish, Scotch, and Welsh ¡>.......
Jewish...................................
All other «...............
Not reported......... ....................
685 86
76 1
415 169
27 2
226 48
223 30
70 6
60 3
126 27
1
66 18
1
4
6 10
4
2
84 32 12 g 8 9
1 2 i 2 i l
12 9 6 28 10
1
42 98
2 2 3 12 3 l
4 2 3 2 1 2
16 6 19 1
19
1
3
3
1
7
1
5 113
59
6 14 13 175 150
i
1 1 2
2
4
1
1 ió : 4
1 21
6 3 4
1 ~2 2 1 5
2 9 63 19 i i
6
\
i
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
i
2
6
5
1
6 4
2 10
11 g
6
i
?
“ Wards and precincts according to ward and precinct lines existing at the time'of the study.
6 Including 60 Irish, 8 Scotch, and 2 Welsh.
c Incluaing 40 Italian, 16 German, 15 French, 15 Greek, 13 Syrian, 7 Bohemian and Moravian, 4 Swedish,
foreign black, 3 Russian, 2 Lithuanian, 2 Magyar, 1 Armenian, 1 Flemish, 1 Norwegian, 2 all other.
T
2 . — Births during selected year to foreign-horn mothers, infant deaths, infant mor
tality rate, and per cent o f stillbirths, according to years o f residence o f mother in the
United States and nationality.
able
Stillbirths.
Years in United States and nationality.
All foreign-born mothers...................
Under 3 years................................
3 to 5 years......................
6 to 8 years...........................
9 to 11 years...................................
12 to 15 years..........................................
16 years and over...................................
Not reported......................
Portuguese-white mothers.................
Under 3 years................................
3 to 5 years.............................
6 to 8 years...........................
9 to 11 years................................
12 to 15 years.......................................
16 years and over................................
Not reported...............................................
Total
births.
I àve
births.
Infant
Infant
deaths. mortality
rate.» Number. Per cent
of total
births.a
1,909
1,858
189
313
343
264
275
511
14
185
305
338
253
266
497
14
685
667
134
101
99
28
33
32
124
145
122
258
38)
57
50
37
22
50
4
106
85
3
142
116
105
80
3
Other foreign-born mothers..................
1,224
1,191
124
Under 3 years...............................................
3 to 5 years..................................................
6 to 8 years....................................................
9 to 11 years...................................................
12 tol5~years.............................. ..................
16 years and over..........................................
Not reported.................................................
88
86
10
a
121
189
198
143
169
426
183
196
137
161
417
11
11
21
10
9
138.9
51
2.7
205.4
186.9
147.9
146.2
82.7
4
2 .1
2 .6
8
5
100.6
9
14
1.5
4.2
3.3
27
200.9
18
2.6
270.5
225.4
181.0
’ 95.2
11
2
2
1 .6
2 .1
3
5
1
4.1
0.9
33
2.7
1
24
18
16
12
41
3
104.1
131.1
91.8
116.8
74.5
98.3
2
6
2
6
8
3.2
1 .0
4.2
4.7
2.r
9
Not shown where base is less than 100 .
83
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
84
T
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
able
3 . — Number and per cent distribution o f deaths among infants born in selected'
year to mothers o f specified nationality, by cause o f death.
Native mothers.
All mothers.
Cause of death.
Foreign-bom mothers.
Per
Per
Infant cent
Infant Per
Infant cent
mor
mor
Total mor cent
Deaths. tality
dis
Deaths.
dis
dis
deaths. tality tribu
tality tribu
rate. tribu
rate. tion.
rate. tion.
tion.
138.9
100.0
54.9
50 •31.8
7
3.8
51
27.4
39.5
22.9
2.7
19.8
18
26
7
9.7
14.0
3.8
1 0 .1
20
10.8
1 .6
8.6
1 .2
6 .2
All causes...............................
337
130.3
100.0
79
108.4
100.0
258
Gastric and intestinal diseases___
Respiratory diseases........................
Malformations..................................
Early inianey...................................
125
72
48.3
27.8
4.6
29.0
37.1
21.4
3.6
22.3
23
13
5
24
31.6
17.8
6.9
32.9
29.1
16.5
6.3
30.4
102
Premature birth........................
Congenital debility...................
Injuries at birth........................
25
40
10
9.7
15.5
3.9
7.4
11.9
3.0
7
14
3
9.6
19.2
4.1
8.9
17.7
3.8
Epidemic diseases...........; ...............
Diseases ill defined or unknown—
Allother causes..............................
23
7
23
8.9
2.7
8.9
6.8
2 .1
6.8
3
4
7
4.1
5.5
9.6
3.8
5.1
8.9
12
75
Portuguese white.
All causes.......................... ...
134
77
98.2
100.0
50.7
25.4
0.7
10.4
12
7
3
17
29.5
17.2
7.4
41.8
25.5
14.9
6.4
36.2
22
28.1
23.0
3.8
25.5
28.6
23.4
3.9
26.0
10
6
1
24.6
14.7
2.5
21.3
7
12 .8
2 .1
11
2
8.9
14.0
9.1
14.3
6.0
0.7
6.7
3.0
2 .6
2.6
15.0
1.5
9.0
7.5
0.7
4.5
3
7.4
2.5
9.8
6.4
7
2 .1
1
6
8.9
1.3
7.7
9.1
1.3
7.8
101.9
51.0
1.5
14
2 1.0
1
1.5
13.5
Epidemic diseases...........................
Diseases ill defined or unknown—
All other causes................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
. 10
1
6
All other foreign bom .
100.0
Premature birth........................
Congenital debility...................
Injuries at birth........................
9
4
7.8
115.5
68
1
2.7
47
200.9
Gastric and intestinal diseases.......
Respiratory diseases........................
Malformations..................................
Early infancy...................................
34
French Canadian.
3
16
7.0
100.0
1
4
8.5
18
3
20
JSTEW BEDFORD, M ASS.
T
4 .— Number and -per cent distribution o f deaths o f infants born in New Bedford
in selected year and o f infant deaths in the registration area in 1914, by cause o f death.
able.
Infant deaths in-
Abridged In
ternational
List.«
Detailed Internar
tional List.«
Cause of death. 6
New
Bedford.
Per
Num-? cent
ber. distributton.
A ll causes.
102,103.
104.......
20 . ................
Part of 2 3 ...
22
Part of 3 3 ...
Part o f 3 3 ...
Part of 33 ;
part of 37 .
Part of 3 7 ...
89..
91..
92..
150.
1 5 1 fl)..:............
15l<2), 152(2), 153...
152(1).................
5...................
6 . . . . ....................
7 ...................
8 . . . . ....................
9.................
10...............
Part of 12... 14......................
Part of I I . . . 18......................
Part of 3 7 ... 24......................
1 3 ..
. ..................
28,29.____. . . . .
14............ 3 0 .....................
1&_______ 31, 32, 33,34, 35.
Part of 37... 37............ ..........
3 5 .................. 1564o 186'.........
38_________
187,188,189___
17...............
Part of 37__
1 9 ..
. . . ; .............
Numher.
337
100.0
155; 075
125
37.1
124
72
75
25
-40
36.8
21.4
3.6
13.6
4.2
3.6
22.3
7.4
11.9
37,736
2,556
35,180
24,036
3,458
13,653
6.925
9,663
52,535
28, 270
18,549
10
3.0
Gastric and intestinal diseases «...
Diseases of the stomach.........
Diarrhea and’ enteritis............
Respiratory diseases e ....... ...........
Acute bronchitis.------- . . . . . . .
Broncho-pneumonia...............
Pneumonia.. . . __ . . . . . . . ___
' 46
1.4
E arly infancy ........................ ..;..,
Premature birth . ....................
Congenital debility.................
Injuries at birth........................
Epidemic diseases «•........... ............
Measles..................... .............. ;
Scarlet fever______ __________
Whooping cough......................
Diphtheria and croup..............
Influenza;......... ......... ..............
Dysentery......... ........ ...............
Erysipelas.................... ............
Tetanus.....................................
Tuberculosis of the lungs........
Tuberculosis meningitis ..........
Other forms; of tuberculosis.. . .
SypMBs____________ ___ _____
External causes.............................
Diseases®!! defined or unknown...
ABother causes....... ..... .............. .
Ifeningftis..................... .
Convulsions_________ . ______
Organic diseases o f the heart..,
Other.............. ..................... .....
Malformations________________
Registration
area.
1
12
12
23
Or8
6.8
3.0
0.6
0.3
0.9
0.6
1.2
0.3
'¿T
0.6
0.6
5,716
12,714
1,041
204
3,899
977
4SI
573
740
368
883
1,118
448
1,982
1.926
2,964
13,501
1.659
2,950
596
81
, 296
Per
cent
distri'button.
m o
24.3
1,6
22; 7
15t 3-
2.2
8/8
4.5
6.2
33.9
18' 2
12.0
3.7
8.2
0.7
0 .1
2.5
0. 6
0.3
0.4
0. 5
0 .2
0 .6
0.7
0.3
1.3
1 .2
1.9
8.7
1.1
ft90.1
5 .3
® The numbers indicate the classification in the abridged and detailed lists, respectively , of the Manual
of the International Erst o f Causes o f Death,
&The eauses of death ineludedinthis list are those used by the IT. S. Bureau of the Census! see Mortahtv
Statistics, 1914,p. 660), in classifying the deaths of infants under 1 year. They are those causes of death
or groups*» causes which are mostimportant at this age. The numbers of the detailed and abridgedinternationalnsts will facilitate their identification. In order to make discussion of the figures easier, these
causes of death have been grouped in eight mam groups;
c The terra gastric and intestinal diseases, as used! in the tables and discussion, includes, as above
shown, onlythe diseases of this type which are mostimportant among infants, I. e., diseases of the stomach,
maiTheaand enteritis. It does not include all “ diseases, of the digestive system” as classified under
tans heading according to the detailed International List.
d Respiratory diseases, as used in the tables-and discussion, similarly, includes only those of the respira
tory diseases which are most important among infants, i. e., acute bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia and
pneumonia. It does not include all “ diseases of the respiratory system ’ ’ as classified under this heading
according to the detailed International List.
e Epidemic diseases, as used in the tables and discussion, includes only those of this group which are
most important among infants.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
86
T
IN F A N T MORTALITY,
able
5 . — Deaths o f infants born durinq selected year occurring in
specified month,
by cause o f death.
Month of death.
Total.
deaths. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Cause of death.
A ll causes...................
Gastric
and
intestinal
able
3
2
2
1
33
3
35
17
4
15
5
3
4
10
1
6
7
2
8
7
1
5
6
1
2
2
2
4
3
2
2
1
2
6
1
2
2
1
3
2
1
3
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
3
1
4
5
3
4
3
11
1
6
6
6
1
12
1
9
3
3
5
4
5
1
10
T
34
125
-72
Congenital debility.......
A ll other causes....................
34
26
25
40
or
42
31
75
defined
49
29
12
ill
12
22
Early infancy.......................
Diseases
14
337
9
1
2
2
4
1
1
23
1
5
5
7
23
1
1
2
- 1
3
4
6
1
4
3
9
4
4
22
22
2
1
1
2
1
3
6 . — Deaths among infants born during selected year occurring in specified month q '
life, by cause o f death.
Deaths in specified month of life.
2 weeks, but under
1 month.
| Second.
I Third.
1 Fourth.
| Fifth.
Sixth.
| Seventh.
I Eighth.
I Ninth.
j Tenth.
| Eleventh.
All causes.................................... 337 102
84
18
32
24
34
25
20
33
15
15
19
9
9
11
4
7
16
7
14
5
17
14
11
8
6
5
6
11
6
16
9
1
6
2
3
1
1
4
2
3
1
L
2
2
1
Total deaths.
125
72
12
Early infancy........................................ 75
able
4
12
68
2
11
2
1
63
5
1
25
33
24
29
10
10
10
23
7
23
3
1
1
2
25
40
T
I Total.
Cause of death.
1
3
2
3
4
1
5
1
1
1
2
3
3
5
5
3
6
4
1
1
2
5
Twelfth.
Under 2 weeks.
First.
5
2
1
1
1
7 . — Deaths among infants horn during selected year in each precinct o f residence, by
cause o f death.
Precinct of residence.
Cause of death.
All causes
Total —
deaths. ^
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 1 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
3
5
2 10
7
6
*>0
7
5
3
1
1
2
2
6
1
2
1'
5
3
2
1
2
1
1
T
2
2
2
9
1
1
13
4
Premature birth...
Congenital debility
Injuries at b irth ...
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3
337 65 52 24
Gastric and intestinal diseases----Respiratory diseases......................
Malformations................................
Early infancy.................................
Epidemic diseases..........................
Diseases ill defined or unknown..
All other causes..............................
2
23 3
7 ...
23 7
0
9
4
3
1
3
1
1
3 38
1
2
1
2 12
11
1
3
3
1
2
1
7
7
2
1
3
6 21 54
27
8 28
12
i 2
6 8
11
8
1
3
5
3
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
5
1
2
7
1
1
3
1
1
1
5
1
1
1
4
1
1
3
2
2
1
1
3
2
2
87
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
T
able
8 . — Number and per cent distribution o f deaths o f infants born during selected year
to mothers o f specified nativity, by age at death.
Age at death.
Foreign-born
mothers.
Native mothers.
All mothers.
Per cent,
Per cent
Per cent
Number. distribu« Number. distribu Number. distribu
tion. '
tion.
tion.
337
100.0
79
100.0
258
100.0
102
30.3
29
36.7
73
28.3
41
9
1 2 .2
12
15.2
3.8
29
1 1 .2
4
1 .2
15
15
18
32
24
79
63
37
2.7
3
4.5
4.5
5.3
7
■
2.3
6
4
1 .6
2
8
5
8.9
2.5
6.3
13
13
3.1
5.0
5.0
9.5
7.1
23.4
18.7
95
19
9
11.4
6.3
24.1
11.4
8.9
7.4
23.3
20.9
1 1 .0
8
1 0 .1
23
19
60
54
29
1 1 .2
T a b l e 9 . — Births from all pregnancies, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to order o f birth and age o f mother.
Stillbirths.
Order of birth and age of mother.
Live
births.
Total
births.
Infant
Infant
cent
deaths. mortality
rate.« Number. Per
of total
births.«
All pregnancies.,
9,340
9,073
1,463
161.2
267
2.9
Under 20......................
20 to 24.........................
25 to 29.........................
30 to 34.........................
35 to 39.........................
40 and over..................
Not reported..........
755
3,234
2,949
1,555
667
174
735
3,158
232.7
167.8
140.9
142.6
170.8
186.7
20
76
81
53
29
2.6
8
2.4
2.7
3.4
4.3
4.6
6
171
530
404
214
109
31
4
6
2,868
1,502
638
166
,
First pregnancy...
2,625
2,531
404
159.6
94
3.6
Under 20......................
20 to 24.........................
25 to 29.........................
30 to 34.........................
35 to 39.........................
40 and over..................
552
1,379
556
539
1,337
529
122
226.3
154.1
115.3
107.8
13
42
27
9
3
2.4
3.0
4.9
Second pregnancy.
206
61
102
20
11
4
1
1,981
1,928
285
147.8
53
2.7
Under 20......................
20 to 24............... .—
25 to 29.........................
30 to 34.........................
35 to 39.........................
40 and over..................
162
982
641
160
156
961
622
155
32
36
152
79
14
4
230.8
158.2
127.0
90.3
6
21
3.7
Third pregnancy..
1,451
1,421
202
142.2
30
Under 20.....................
20 to 24.........................
25 to 29........................
80 to 34.........................
35 to 39............. .........
40 and over................
Not reported..............
38
520
626
216
37
510
612
11
91
76
212
22
2
111
23
4
34
2
1
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3
19
5
8 .1
2 .1
3.0
3.1
2
2
45
4
i
Not shown where base is less than 100.
178.4
124.2
103.8
1
10
14
4
1
2 .1
1.9
2 .2
1.9
........... ............
88
T
IN F A N T MORTALITY,
a b l e
9 . — Births
from all pregnancies, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to order o f birth and age o f mother-—Continued.
Stillbirths.
Order
at
birth and age of mother.
Fourth pregnancy............... ..................
20 to ...........................................................
25 to 29................. ................. ......................
30 to 34..... .....................................................
35 to 39
Total
births.
1,038
2
238
480
255
54
7
20 to 24__
25 to 29...........................................................
30 to 34.................................. ......................
35 to 39........................................ .................
158
2
1
236
472
252
53
50
75
24
7
1
710
693
104
1
1
86
1
21
87
307
233
66
14
2
Sixth pregnancy...................................
1,023
6
2
2
Fifth pregnancy.....................................
Infant
mortality
Per cent
rate.
Number. of total
births.
Infant
births.
Live
births.
491
302
225
64
13
44
29
7
2
2
473
77
18
179
190
74
6
30
26
154.4
15
1.4
211.9
158.9
95.2
2
8
0.8
3
150.1
17
145.7
128.9
5
18
3.7
5
2.7
5.0
I
162.8
12
1
11
1
Seventh pregnancy................................
354
339
74
218.3
15
25 to 29...
................................
30 to 34...........................................................
35 to 3 9 ...i . .
_ ...................... , ........
7
94
152
93
4
26
27
15
188.8
9
4
8
7
93
143
89
7
Eighth pregnancy..................................
246
236
64
20 to 24...
25 to29 ...
. ..
30 to 34............. .............................................
35 to 39...........................................................
2
2
Ninth pregnancy...................................
20 to
25 to
30 to
35 to
24
29...
34 .
39
35
108
74
17
33
166
165
36
1
1
17
65
63
5
14
15
6
20
110
105
19
30 to 34 .
.....................
35 to 3 9 ............*.............................. .............
4
27
56
23
4
27
52
7
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10
305.6
4
3
2
8
4.2
5.9
4.1
3.6
1
218.2
1
181.0
5
0.6
1
2
4
1
271.2
4
Tenth pregnancy...................................
10
2
1
1
21
17
65
63
19
22
167.6
136.8
2
77
18
37
1 .6
3.4
12
2
1
112
2.4
1
18
184
76
1 .2
8
2
20 to 24.............................. ...........................
25 to 29...........................................................
30 to 34......................... ................................
35 to 39...
................................
200
1.7
.1
1
4
1
4.5
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
89
T a b l e 10.— Mothers reporting specified number o f stillbirths, according to the number
o f births to mother.
Mothers reporting specified number of stillbirths.
Total
mothers.
Number of births to mother.
None.
AH mother®.................... ......
..,
1 . . . ...................
2 ................................
3.......................................
4....................................
5 . . . .............................
8 .............................
7......................................
3..........................................
9..........................
1 0 ....................................
1 1 ......................
1 2 .............................
13.............................
14............ ...................
15....................................
16......... ..............................
17............................................
1
i
2,604
2,38g
176
632
524
406
329
215
141
103
7»
62
37
25
18
13
608
500
375
303
tâ»
125
94
61
49
. 29
24
23
25
24
g
31
8
1
1
15
7
3
6
8
10
6
6
6
5
12
13
2
1
i
1
1
3
2
1
................
T a b l e 1 1 .— Mothers reporting specified number o f mfemt deaths, by number o f live births
to mother.
Mothers reporting specified number of infant deaths.
Total
mothers.
Ulve birth® to mother.
None.
AH mothers
2,579
1.
637
528
405
323
208
1«
114
68
57
39
22
13
10
7
6
2
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
S.
9.
1 &.
11 .
12.
13.
14.
15.
18.
T
able
12.
1
1,656 ; 597
1,555
422
270
184
94
51
42
19
7
6
3
1
i
82
96
108
96
70
53
35
18
16
9
5
1
4
3
1
1
2
3
4
5
209
65
28
10
19
24
35
32
23
25
22
14
13
8
3
3
6
9
I®
8
5
6
8
2
2
3
1
2
2
3
2
4
4
5
3
3
1
1
6-
7
9
9
4
1
I
4
2
1
2
'3
2
I
1
2
2
.........
Total births and number and 'per cent o f plural births resulting from all
pregnancies, according to age o f mother.
Plural births.
Age of mother.
Total
births.
Number. Per cent.»
A11 ages.....................................
Under 20.......................
20 to 24..........................
25 to 29..........................
30 to 34..........................
35 to 39...............................
40 and over.....................
Not reported....................
...........................................
.......................................................
.............. .......................................
...................................................
° Not shown where base is less than 100.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
9,340
152
1.6
755
3,234
2,949
1,555
667
174
6
4
42
51
30
14
11
.5
1.3
1.7
1.9
2.1
6.3
90
IN F A N T MORTALITY,
T a b l e 1 3 . — Births during selected year and number and 'per cent o f births to mothers
with specified kind o f attendant, according to nationality o f mother.
Attendant at birth.
Total
births.
Nationality of mother.
Other, none, or not
reported.
Midwife.
Physician.
Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
French Canadian.................
Canadian (except French)..
2,662
1,934
72.7
615
23.1
113
753
1,909
698
1,236
92.7
64.7
42
573
. 5.6
30.0
13
685
76
415
27
223
226
60
70
126
210
30.7
43.4
99.3
96.3
54.3
86.7
98.3
97.1
389
40
56.8
52.6
.5
1
a
T
able
33
412
26
12 1
196
59
68
111
8 8 .1
.
2
100
1.7
5.2
86
1 2 .6
1
1
3.7
4
1 .8
3
45.7
11.5
1.7
2.9
8.7
102
26
1
2
11
........ 4.2
3.9
.2
4
3.2
1
-
100.0
Including 60 Irish, 8 Scotch, and 2 Welsh.
1 4 .— Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent o f
stillbirths, according to attendant at birth and nativity o f mother.
Stillbirths.
Attendant at birth and nativity of mother.
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
cent
rate.® Number. Per
of total
births.
All mothers..........................................
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
75
2 .8
Physician........................................................
Midwife...........................................................
Other, none, or not reported.........................
1,934
615
113
1,870
609
108
216
103
18
115.5
169.1
166.7
64
3.3
Native mothers.......................................
.753
729
79
108.4
24
3.2
Physician........................................................
698
42
13
677
42
71
104.9
3.0
10
6
2
21
Foreign-born mothers.............................
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
51
2.7
Physician........................................................
1,236
573
121.5
171.1
163.3
3.5
100
145
97
16
43
Other, none, or not reported.........................
1,193
567
98
6
2
1 .0
2 .0
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Not shown where base is less than 100.
6
5
1 .0
4.4
3
N E W BEDFORD, MASS,
T
91
15.
Number and per cent distribution, by type o f feeding, o f infants bovn during
selected year and surviving at end o f third, sixth, and ninth months, according to nation
ality o f mother.
able
Infants surviving at end of—
Type of feeding and nationality of mother.
Third month.
Num
ber.«
All mothers.............................
Breast exclusively...................
Mixed..........................
Artificial exclusively.................
Not reported.............................
Per cent
distri
bution.
2,429
1,602
226
600
Sixth month.
Num
ber.®
2,350
66.0
1,054
1
9.3
24.7
(“ )
Native mothers................
686
100.0
667
Breast exclusively................ .
Mixed.........................
Artificial exclusively...................
427
40
219
62.2
5.8
31.9
297
Foreign-born mothers...............
Per cent
distri
bution.
873
44.9
(a)
44.5
285
Ninth month.
Num
ber.®
Per cent
distri
bution.
2,287
100.0
594
623
1,069
26.0
27.2
46.7
(a)
658
100.0
163
143
352
24.8
21.7
53.5
1,629
100.0
431
480
717
26.5
29.5
44.0
1,743
100.0
1,683
1,175
186
381
67.4
10.7
21.9
757
1
0 .1
Portuguese-white mothers___
619
100.0
583
100.0
549
100.0
Breast exclusively.......................
Mixed............. .................
Artificial exclusively......................
372
100
60.1
16.2
23.7
232
147
39.8
22 *o
146
149
254
26.6
27.1
46.3
1,124
100.0
1,10 0
100.0
1,080
100.0
803
86
71.4
7.7
1
20.8
0 .1
285
331
463
26.4
3u. 6
42.9
Breast exclusively...........
Mixed..............................
Artificial exclusively.................
Not reported..........'....................
Other foreign-born mothers................
Breast exclusively.......................
Mixed................ *.............
Artificial exclusively....................
Not reported.................... ........
'
a
1
234
0 .1
588
368
45.0
20.0
oo. O
1
Excluding one infant with foreign-born mother for whom feeding was not reported.
1 5 4 2 2 0 °— 2 0 ------- 7
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
0 .1
0 .1
IN F A N T MORTALITY,
92
T a b l e 16.— Infants bom during selected year to mothers o f specified nativity and sur
viving at beginning o f the month, number and per cent o f infants dying subsequently
in first year, and infant deaths in specified month o f life, according to month o f life and
type o f feeding in the month.
Subsequent infant
deaths in—
Month of life and
type of feeding.
Foreign-born mothers.
Native mothers.
Subsequent infant
deaths in—
Subsequent infant
deaths in—
Total First year.
infant
sur
vivors.
TnSpeci faut
fied sur- First year.
month. vivSpeci
Num Per
ors.
fied
ber. <sent.“
Num Per month.
ber. <sent.®
Infont
survivors.
First year.
Speci
fied
Num Per month.
ber. 3ent.®
729
79
10 .8
29 1,858
258
13.9
73
569
2
18
16 125
17
60
38
6.7
16
17.6
148
13
54
43
9.6
2
22
8 1,537
1
80
27.4
13
43
32
700
50
7.1
9 1,785
185
10.4
23
13
5
14
491
29
180
19 3.9
5
26 "Ì4.*4
4 1,355
1
128
301
4
91
22
7?
6.7
17.2
23.9
9
4
19
1
1
Third m onth... 2,453
5.9
5 1,762
162
9.2
19
2 1,180
63
5.3
78
1 1 .2
3
21
First month___ 2,587
337
13.0
102
Breast exclusively. . . 2,106
98
Mixed.........................
Artificial exclusively.
322
60
Not fed, died at once.
186
15
76
60
8.8
24
23.6
Second m onth. 2,485
235
9.5
Breast exclusively — 1,846
157
M ixed.......................
Artificial exclusively.
481
110
6.0
3
17
17
1
17.2
20.4
27
98
24
8.3
203
7
4.5
Breast exclusively. . . 1,609
227
M ixed.........................
616
Artificial exclusively.
73
24
106
10 .6
17.2
16
Fourth month. 2,429
179
7.4
691
429
40
41
10
2.3
36
5.2
9 1,743
143
8 .2
25
6
3
27
1 .6
10.3
997
252
493
39
24
80
3.9
9.5
16.2
8
6
11
677
27
4.0
29
3.3
8.7
14.2
12 .6
Fifth m on th ... 2,395
145
6 .1
25
9
5 1,718
118
6.9
882
284
551
26
17
75
2.9
4
68
277
2
21
7.6
5
20
672
22
3.3
5 1,698
2
3
1 .0
1
17
5.9
758
341
598
17
2.5
30
19
96
1 1 .6
1
20
Sixth m onth... 2,370
120
5.1
2 .1
1 .2
100
4.0
9.1
4
14
4.3
33
667
2
'
833
548
968
1
Eighth month.. 2,317
14
18
68
67
Breast exclusively..
Mixed.......................
Artificial exclusively
719
589
1,008
45
Ninth month..
2,302
52
Breast exclusively..
Mixed___ •.............. .
Artificial exclusively
596
625
1,080
10
12
6
11
35
0.4
1.7
3.3
7.0
9
23
239
115
313
3
13
2 .6
2.9
15
660
10
•1.5
1.4
3
1
1
8
0.5
8
1 .2
1
4.5
2
10
198
133
329
2.3
15
658
2 .0
2
2
11
1 .0
1 .8
3.2
163
143
352
1
1
7
4.2
0 .8
2.4
0.7
2 .0
1
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Not shown where base is less than 100.
4
1
15
98
5.8
15
19
15
64
2.5
4-4
10.7
4
19
7 1,683
83
4.9
26
594
433
655
13
15
55
2 .2
3.5
8.4
7
13
2 1,657
57
3.4
13
521
456
679
9
11
2
2
37
1.7
2.4
5.4
44
2.7
15
6
10
1.4
2
2
11
4
1
Breast exclusively..
Mixed.......................
Artificial exclusively.
6.0
13.6
1
298
85
289
13
1
332
4
Breast exclusively__ 1,214
352
Mixed.........................
828
Artificial exclusively.
19.8
1
1
2,350
1
686
45
27
107
Seventh month
5
365
59
262
Breast exclusively. . . 1,362
311
Mixed.........................
755
Artificial exclusively.
17
81
187
394
34
8
- 6
20
22
1
222
1
Breast exclusively.. 1,056
426
Mixed.........................
887
Artificial exclusively
1
3
28
1
2.5
5.4
197
43
2
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
9
1
1,644
433
482
728
1
28
2 .1
3.8
93
N E W BEDFORD, MASS,
T a b l e 1 7 .— Infants bom during selected year and surviving at end o f 3, 6, and 9 months o f
age, whose mothers had specified working status, and number and per cent artificially fed
according to nationality o f mother.
Type of feeding at specified age and nation
ality of mother.
Total
infant
survivors.
Mother
not
gainfully
employed
before
specified
time.
Mother gainfully em
ployed before speci
fied time—
At home.
Away from
home.
Mother
gainfully
employed,
but time
of resump
tion not
reported.
At home.
ALL M OTH EKS.
Infants living at end of 3 months. .
Number artificially fe d ............
Per cent artificially fed ............
Infants living at end of 6 m onths..
Number artificially fed............
Per cent artificially fed ............
Infants living at end of 9 months. .
Number artificially fe d ...........:
Per cent artificially fed............
N A T IV E
2,429
600
24.7
2,350
873
37.1
2,287
1,069
46.7
24.3
33.4
41.7
1,873
456
1,629
544
1,469
613
18.0
29.1
39.0
384
69
406
118
413
161
45.9
68.5
73.7
157
72
302
207
392
289
15
3
20.0
13
4
30.8
13
6
46.2
M OTHERS.
Infantslivingatend of3months___
Number artificially fed............
Per cent artificially fed ............
Infants living at end of 6 months. .
Number artificially fed ............
Per cent artificially fed............
Infants living at end of 9 m onths..
Number artificially fed............
Per cent artificially fed ............
686
31.9
42.7
53.5
219
667
285
658
352
30.8
39.6
49.3
598
184
538
213
511
252
33.3
57
19
27
55.6
68
44.1
56.9
30
72
41
72.4
80.6
58
42
4
1
25.0
3
72
58
3
1
33.3
F O R E IG N -B O R N M O T H E R S .
Infants living at end of 3 m onths...
Number artificially fed..............
Per cent artificially fe d ..............
Infants living at end of 6 m onths...
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
Infants living at end of 9 m onths...
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed..............
21.9
34.9
44.0
1,743
381
1,683
588
21.3
30.3
1,629
717
37.7
1,275
272
1,091
331
958
361
15.3
327
50
338
26.0
35.2
88
341
120
43.8
67.6
72.2
130
57
244
165
320
231
11
2
18.2
10
4
40.0
10
5
50.0
Portuguese-w hite mothers.
Infants living at end of 3 months. . .
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fe d ..............
Infants living at end of 6 months. . .
Number artificially fe d ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
Infants living at end of 9 months. . .
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
23.7
619
147
583
37.7
46.3
220
549
254
22.8
29.4
430
98
16.0
340
100
102
44.1
121
28.1
286
35.7
119
19
34
12 1
39.7
48
71.7
73.6
68
2
120
86
2
30
140
103
50.0
2
1
O ther fo re ig n -h o rn mothers.
Infants living at end of 3 months...
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
Infants living at end of 6 m onths...
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
Infants 1iving at end of 9 months. . .
Number artificially fed ..............
Per cent artificially fed ..............
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
20.8
1,124
234
1,10 0
33.5
42.9
368
1,080
463
845
174
20.6
30.8
38.5
751
231
672
259
14.9
24.9
208
31
217
54
43.5
63.7
220
32.7
72
71.1
62
27
124
79
180
128
9
2 2 .2
50.0
50.0
2
8
4
g
4
94
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e 1 8 .—
B irth s
d u r in g
se le c te d
yea r
in
ea ch fa th e r 's
ea rn in g s
g rou p ,
a c c o r d in g
to
o c c u p a tio n o f fa th e r .
Earnings of father.
Occupation of father.
Total
births. Under $450 $550
to
to
$450. $549.
$649.
$650
to
Not
$850 $1,050 $1,250 No
re
and earn
to
to
1,049. $1,249. over. ings. ported.
2,662
453
387
625
308
85
173
Manufacturing and mechan
ical industries.................. 1,730
321
257
425
188
44
61
All occupations.
36
Bakers................................
Blacksmiths.................................
Builders and contractors............
Compositors and linotype oper
ators........................... ..............
Electricians..................................
Factory operatives and la
borers..............................
1,304
369
275
221
298
Cotton mills............................. 1,091
31
Other textile mills..................
95
Metal and glass industries—
41
Shoe industry..........................
46
Other industries— '...............
54
Firemen and stationary^ engineers
Laborers,helpers and apprentices
41
(not in factory)..........................
Machinists, millwrights, and tool46
makers.........................................
Manufacturers, proprietors, man
27
agers, and officials......................
Shoemakers and cobblers (not in
9
factory).......... ...........................
164
Skilled mechanics, building trades
7
Tailors...........................................
Others in maunfacturing and
5
mechanical industries..............
329
14
16
4
230
190
249
Trade.
Bankers, brokers, real estate and
insurance agents.........................
Deliverymen..................................
Laborers.........................................
Retail and wholesale dealers (pro
prietors, officials, and managers)
Salesmen and commercial trav
elers.......... ................................ .
Others in trade.............................
6
2
24
6
.19
2
13
10
10
8
Domestic and personal
service.......... ....................
14
6
23
10
10
18
3
10
21
7
3
53
1
2
86
354
20
70
29
144
85
6
10
20
Transportation.
Chauffeurs, teamsters, expressmen..............................................
Conductors, motormen, locomo
tive engineers, and trainmen—
Express, post, telegraph, and tele
phone employees........................
Laborers.......... .............................
Sailors, stevedores, and longshore
men.......... ...................................
Others in transportation..............
21
68
36
9
31
26
8
120
18
19
36
Barbers.........................................
Cooks and waiters........................
-Janitors and elevator operators..
Laborers.......................................
Servants.......................................
Others in domestic and personal
service.......................................
Public service.
Firemen and policemen.
Laborers.........................
Others in public service.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
83
12
N E W BEDFOKD, MASS,
T a b l e 18.
95
Births during selected year in each father's earnings group, accordino to
occupation o f father— Continued.
Earnings of father.
Total
births. Under $450 $550 $650 $850 $1,050 $1,250 No
Not
to
to
to
to
to
and earn
re
$450. «549.
$649. «849. «1,049. $1,249. over. ings. ported.
Occupation of father.
Agriculture, fishing, and
mining.............................
Farmers and farm workers..........
Fishermen..........................
73
36
14
5
4
6
24
43
10
5
7
2
3
3
25
3
2
Clerical occupations (all
industries)....... ...............
Professional and semiprofessiona 1 pursuits..............
No occupation and not
reported “ ..........................
“
55
3
6
33
1
6
11
2
1
«
2
1
1
1
1
1
6
5
13
.
......
A4
36
4
36 j
1 uase wnere me iatner uvea on Uis income and 35 in which the father did not contribute to
t a
o
S
t o
&
^
S
^
S
S
- ’ 5 inabiUty t0 work because of sickness ’ 1 a student’ 511(1
T a b l e 1 9 — Births during selected year in families o f specified number o f persons and
mother nUmher
Persons P ^ fam ily, according to earnings o f father and nativity o f
of mother.
All mothers.
Under $450.......
$450 to $549......
$550 to $649......
$650 to $849___
$850to $1,049...
$1,050 to $1,249.
$1,250 and over.
No earnings___
Not reported...
Native mothers.
Under $450.......
$450 to $549___
$550 to $649___
$650 to $849___
$850 to $1,049..,
$1,050 to $1,249.
$1,250and over.
No earnings....
Not reported...
Foreign-born mothers.
Under $450.......
$450 to $5 49....
$550 to $649___
$650 to $849___
$850 to $1,049...
$1,050 to $1,249.
$1,250 and over.
No earnings___
Not reported...
a
Births during selected year in families of specified
number of persons, a
Average
number
of per
fam
sons per All fami
5
7
Over ily. 6
family. lies, total
1
2
3
4
or
6
or
8
8
births.
3.8
2,662
16
760
634
486
482
201
79
4
3.9
3.8
3.7
4.0
4.0
3.7
3.7
2
1
2
148
136
128
165
81
29
56
134
108
79
153
81
15
1
11
11
51
14
■24
3
9
45
34
27
43
25
41
7
106
84
67
114
56
13
32
3
100
4.2
551
453
387
625
308
85
173
36
44
3.4
753
13
271
193
128
3.5
3.2
3.3
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.3
• 2.4
3.5
60
67
107
194
146
44
2
1
1
20
14
16
23
49
46
11
12
102
2
2.6
17
16
4.0
1,909
3.9
3.9
3.9
4.3
4.4
4.0
4.1
491
386
280
431
162
41
71
19
28
2 .8
4.6
2
9
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28
44
71
45
17
38
4
4
25
3
5
3
489
441
120
1
128
108
84
94
36
92
56
104
35
12
8
7
......
Excluding infant born during selected year.
11
6
20
2
12
18
7
16
2
6
4
17
34
22
6
20
1
82
78
121
8
13
8
6
28
5
2
4
2
106
27
14
6
' 8
4
1
2
1
6
4
4
1
1
2
17
30
25
7
4
4
5
11
1
1
358
376
174
65
95
72
50
80
34
7
94
74
61
91
26
7
13
41
33
13
7
12
2
6
2
8
1
1
22
37
21
7
9
6
24
6 Infants boarded out.
i
1
1
1
3
1
10
3
i
3
1
1
2
1
1
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
96
T able 2 0 . — Num ber and per cent distribution o f live births in selected year to mothers
o f specified nativity in and outside “ unfavorable” area, according to earnings o f father.
Live births to mothers who lived—
In “ unfavorable”
area.
Earnings of father.
Outside “ unfavor
able” area.
Per cent
Per cent
Number. distribu Number. distribu
tion.
tion.
' A ll classes.................
1,488
100.0
1,099
100.9
Under $450..........................
$450 to $549.........................
$550 to $649.........................
$650 to $849....................... $850 to $1.049......................
$1,050 to $1,249...................
$1,250 and over............... .
No earnings...................... .
Not reported......................
380
298
234
316
25.5
2 1 .2
8 .1
2 .0
150
144
146
294
176
54
20
4.4
1.3
24
1 .6
14
19
13.6
13.1
13.3
¿6.3
16.0
4.9
9.3
1.3
1.7
12 1
30
65
20.0
15.7
102
Native mothers..........
276
100.0
453
100.9
Under $450.........................
$450 to $549.........................
$550 to $649....................... .
$650 to $849.......................
$850 to $1,049.................... .
$1,050 to $1,249.................
$1,250 and over.......... .
No earnings............... .
N ot reported............ ..
30
36
46
74
42
9
25
10.9
13.0
16.7
26.8
15.2
3.3
9.1
2.9
26
29
60
113
99
34
73
9
5.7
- 6.4
13.2
24.9
21.9
7.5
16.1
2 .2
10
2.0
2 .2
Foreign-born mothers
1 ,2 1 2
100.0
646
100.0
28.9
124
115
19.2
17.8
13.3
28.0
11.9
3.1
4.5
8
6
350
262
188
242
79
Under $450......................
$450 to $549...............'.----$550 to $649........ ....... . —
$650 to $849................... .
$850to $1,049....................
$1,050 to $1,249.................
$1,250 and over.................
No earnings.......................
Not reported.....................
T
2 1 .6
15.5
20.0
21
40
6.5
1.7
3.3
12
1 .0
18
1.5
86
181
77
20
29
5
9
0 .8
1.4
2 1 .— Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant m ortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to em ploym ent o f mother during year before birth o f infant.
able
Stillbirths.
Employment of mother during year before
birth ofinfant.
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
Percent
rate.® Number. oftotal
births.®
All mothers.
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
Not gainfully employed.
Gainfully employed.......
1,420
1,242
1,370
1,217
149
188
108.8
154.5
360
302
58
882
820
13
13
21
15
353
296
57
864
804
13
12
20
15
43
37
121.8
125.0
At home....................................
Keeping lodgers.................
Other home work..............
Away from home......................
Textile m ill operatives___
Other factory operatives. .
Clerks and saleswomen----Servants, charwomen, e tc.
Other occupations..............
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6
145
141
Not shown where base is less than 100.
167.8
175.4
75
2.3
3.5
2.0
1.9
2.0
2.0
2.0
N E W BEDFORD, MASS,
97
T able 22.— Bvrths during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to employment o f mother during year preceding birth o f in f ant
and interval between cessation o f work in cotton mills and confinement.
Stillbirths.
Employment of mother during year before birth
of infant and interval between cessation of
work in cotton mills and confinement.
All mothers....... .............................
Not gainfully employed.....................................
Gainfully employed"............................
Total
births.
Live
births.
Infant
Infant
deaths. ityrate.e
2,662
2,587
337
130.3
1,420
1,242
1,370
1,217
149
188
108.8
154.5
812
798
141
In cotton m ills.................................................
Ceased work—
Less than 1 week................................
1 week but less than 1 month............
1 month but less than 3 months.......
3 months but less than 6 months___
6 months and over.............................
No cessation...............................................
No report..................................................
Other work away from home..........................
At home..........................................................
5
19
144
389
249
5
4
19
140
383
246
5
3
24
70
40
70
360
353
Native mothers............................................
753
Not gainfully employed.........................................
Gainfully employed.............................
In cotton mills...........................
Ceased work—
1 month but less than 3 months.......
3 months but less than 6 months___
6 months and over.............................
No cessation.............................................
No report......................................
Other work away from home..........................
At home........................ ~...........
F oreign-bom mothers...............................
Number
Per cent
oftotal
births.«
50
25
3.5
14
1.7
4
2 .8
2 .8
2
171.4
182.8
162.6
3
4
43
1 2 1 .8
7
729
79
108.4
502
251
484
245
47
32
97.1
144
142
22
22
22
2
10
1
1
66
2 .6
2
6
1.5
1 .2
1.9
3.2
18
6
3.6
2.4
1.4
62
58
61
57
1
1
1
35
72
34
69
2
8
1,909
1,858
258
138.9
51
2.7
102
115.1
32
19
3.5
1.9
12
1 .8
4
5
L5
1
1
1
9
Not gainfully employed.........................................
Gainfully e m p loy ed .....................................
918
991
972
In cotton mills........................
Ceased work—
Less than 1 week................................
1 week but less than 1 month............
1 month but less than 3 months.......
3 months but less than 6 m onths___
6 months and over.........................
No cessation.......................................
Other work away from home......................
At hom e.......................................
668
656
5
19
327
191
4
35
288
4
19
118
322
189
4
32
284
60
31
Portuguese-white m others..........................
685
667
134
312
373
302
365
50
84
257
251
1
3
54
127
71
1
1
3
53
124
69
274.2
3
2.4
1
1
34
19
19
181.0
2
1.9
Not gainfully employed................................
Gainfully employed...............................
In cotton mills......................
Ceased work—
Less than 1 week................................
I week but less than 1 month__ ___
1 month but less than 3 months.......
3 months but less than 6 months. . .
6 months and over.....................
No cessation........................
At home....................................
122
9
107
105 1
a Not shown where base is less than 100.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
156
2
3
22
186.4
186.3
164,0
1 .0
2
35
1.4
200.9
2 .6
10
8
3.2
2 .1
2.3
11
%
98
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e 2 2 . — Births during selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
o f stillbirths, according to employment o f mother during year preceding birth o f infant
and interval between cessation o f work in cotton mills and confinement— Contd.
Stillbirths.
Employment of mother during year before birth
or infant and interval between cessation of
work in cotton mills and confinement.
Total
Live
births. • births.
Infant
Infant mortal
deaths. ity
cent
rate.“ Number. Per
of total
births.“
Other foreign-born mothers.........................
1,224
1,191
124
104.1
33
2.7
Not gainfully employed.........................................
Gainfully employed................................................
606
618
584
607
52
72
89.0
118.6
22
11
3.6
In cotton mills.................................................
Ceased work—
411
405
54
133.3
6
1.5
4
16
3
16
1
3
68
20Ò
120
198
26
120
131.3
12
1
2
100.0
1 week but less than 1 month............
1 month but less than 3 months.......
3 months but less than 6 months. . . .
At home...........................................................
1
11
3
23
179
3
26
181
1 .8
3
2
1 .0
3
16
89.4
2
1 .1
T a b l e 2 3 . — Live births during selected year, infant deaths, and infant mortality rate,
according to employment o f mother during year following birth o f infant.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.“
2,587
337
130.3
1,539
1,048
142
195
92.3
186.1
470
417
53
578
543
4
49
45
4
146
139
104.3
107.9
11
3
3
Live
births.
Employment of mother during year following birth of infant.
At home............. ........................................................................................
Other liomework............................................... .................................
Other factory operatives................. .•......................... .................. / . . .
Clerks and saleswomen.......................................................................
Other o c c u p a t i o n s .........................................................................
13
252.6
256.0
1
T a b l e 2 4 . — Live births, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent o f deaths from
gastric and intestinal diseases, according to employment o f mother during year following
birth o f infant, and infant’s age when mother resumed work in cotton mills, and nation
ality o f mother.
Employment of mother during year following birth
of infant, and infant’s age when mother resinned
work in cotton mills, and nationality of mother.
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.“
Deaths from gastric
and
intestinal
diseases.
Number.
Per cent
of all
deaths.“
All mothers....................................................
2,587
337
130.3
125
37.1
Not gainfully employed.................................................
Gainfully employed.......................................................
1,539
1,048
142
195
92.3
186.1
36
89
25.4
45.6
In cotton mills........................................................
Resumed after baby’s death...........................
Resumed during baby’s life.............................
Under 2 weeks...'.......................................
2 weeks and under 1 month......................
1 month and under 2 .................................
2 months and under 3................................
3 months and over.....................................
Other work away from home.................................
At home...................................................................
540
97
443
138
97
41
255.6
92.6
63
39
24
56.1
11
104.3
22
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2
14
58
66
303
38
470
1
3
13
7
17
8
49
Not shown where base is less than 100.
1
2
3
4
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
99
24 Live births, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent o f deaths from
gastric and intestinal diseases, according to employment o f mother during yearfollowinq
birth o f infant, and infant s age when mother resumed work in cotton mills, and nation
ality o f mother— Continued.
a b l e
™
a u .x» aj.k,
o-iJ-VA
a
W I I t ill m o c i i e r r 0 S U I ll €
work in cotton mills, and nationality of mother.
T
*
Live
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.“
Deaths from gastric
and
intestinal
diseases.
Number.
Native mothers.
729
79
108.4
Not gainfully employed.
Gainfully employed____
534
195
41
38
76.8
194.9
In cotton mills.................................
Resumed after baby’s death___
Resumed during baby’s life.___
Under 2 weeks......................
2 weeks and under 1 month .
1 month and under 2 ...........
2 months and under 3..........
3 months and over...............
Other work away from hom e. . . . . . .
At home......., ..........................
Foreign-bom mothers.
Not gainfully employed.
Gainfully employed......
In cotton mills...................................
Resumed after baby’s death___
Resumed during baby’s life......
Under 2 weeks......................
2 weeks and under 1 month.
1 month and under 2 ...........
2 months and under 3..........
3 months and over...............
Other work away from home...........
At home...........................
Portuguese-white mothers.
Not gainfully employed.
Gainfully employed___
In cotton mills...................................
Resumed after baby’s death___
Resumed during baby’s life......
Under 2 weeks......................
2 weeks and under 1 month.
1 month and under 2 ...........
2 months and under 3 ..........
3 months and over...............
Other work away from home...........
A t home.........................
Other foreign-bom mothers.
Not gainfully em ployed.
Gainfully employed........
In cotton mills...................................
Resumed after baby’ s death___
Resumed during baby’s l i fe .....
2 weeks and under 1 month.
1 month and under 2 ...........
2 months and under 3..........
3 months and over...............
Other work away from home.......
At home......................
96
20
76
23
27
20
7
1
1
1
1
3
11
9
52
15
84
6
1,858
258
138.9
1,005
853
101
157
100.5
184.1
24.8
49.0
111
250.0
47.7
444
77
367
1
11
4
5
77
34
111.4
51.8
667
134
200.9
321
346
49
85
152.6
245.7
194
31
163
57
31
26
293.8
1
8
50.7
1
11
28
194.4
1,191
124
104.1
684
507
52
72
76.0
142.0
250
46
204
54
46
216.0
8
1
39.2
6
68
9
5
144
16
29
153
15
242
39.5
2
12
7
13
3
43
5
31
28
98
102
92.6
47
57
251
23
386
3
2
2
3
15
° Not shown where base is less than 100.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Per cent
of all
deaths.«
13.1
62.0
27.4
100
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e 25.— Number and per cent distribution o f births during selected year to gainfully
employed mothers o f specified nativity, according to earnings o f rmther during year
following birth o f infant.
Earnings of mother.
Total
births.
All classes............................................
TTnrlpr $150 -
.......................................
Foreign-bom
mothers.
Native mothers.
All mothers.
Per cent
distribu
tion.
Percent
distribu
tion.
Births.
Per cent
distribu
tion.
Births.
1,077
100.0
203
100.0
874
100.0
419
269
176
141
31
41
38.9
25.0
16.3
13.1
2.9
3.8
72
43
44
26
3
15
35.5
347
226
132
115
28
26
39.7
25.»
15.1
13.2
3.2
3.0
2 1 .2
21.7
12 .8
1.5
7.4
T a b l e 26.— Births in selected year to foreign-horn mothers gainfully employed in specified .
way during year following birth o f infant, according to literacy and nationality o f mother.
Births to foreign-born mothers.
Gainfully employed year after
confinement.
Not gainfully employed
year after
confine
At home. ment.
Literacy and nationality of mother.
Total.
Total.
In cotton
mills.
Other
work
away
from
home.
Foreign-born mothers___
1,909
874
458
25
391
1,035
Able to read and write..............
Unable to read and write..........
Not reported...............................
1,183
714
265
191
14
9
12
497
368
9
2
218
168
5
346
3
2
686
Portuguese-white mothers.
685
354
200
8
148
331
Able to read and write..............
Unable to read and write..........
Not reported.............................
238
443
4
119
231
4
68
132
2
4
49
95
212
2
2
Other foreign-bom mothers
1,224
520
258
17
245
704
Able to read and w rite.............
Unable to read and write----Not reported..............................
945
271
g
378
137
5
197
59
12
169
73
3
567
134
3
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2
5
119
101
N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
T
2 7 .— Birthsin selected year to foreign-born mothers gainfully employed in specified
way during yearfollow ing birth o f infant, according to nationality ana years o f residence
o f mother m the United States.
'
able
Births to foreign-born mothers.
Gainfully employed year after
confinement.
Nationality of mother and years in
United States.
Total.
Total.
All foreign-born mothers___
Less than 3 years..........
3 to 4 years........................
5 to 9 years....................
10 years and over.............
Not reported...... ..........
Portuguese-white mothers...................
Less than 3 years...............
3 to 4 years......................
5 to 9 years...................
10 years and over...............
Not reported................
Other foreign-born mothers...............
Less than 3 years.............
3 to 4 years......................
5 1o 9 years...................
10 years and over......................
Not reported........................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
In
cotton
mills.
1,909
874
458
189
217
528
961
14
117
116
283
353
5
59~
64
153
180
685
354
101
Other
work
away
from
home.
25
¡T
At
home.
391
Not gain
fully em
ployed
year after
confine
ment.
1,035
2
2
6
11
53~
50
124
162
M
2
245
608
9
200
8
146
331
72
51
123
107
36
30
72
62
3
1
1
2
33
50
43
110
1,224
520
258
17
245
704
88
45
65
160
246
4
23
34
81
118
2
1
20
43
69
83
233
265
3
134
295
696
11
1
2
5
9
20
30
74
1 1Q
72
101
29
32
158
102
IN F A N T MORTALITY,
T a b l e 2 8 . — Births in selected year to mothers employed in cotton mills during year fo l
lowing confinement, according to specified number o f persons in fam ily, and earnings
o f father and nationality o f mother.
Births during selected year to mothers
employed in cotton mills year follow
ing confinement.
In families of specified num
ber of persons, a
Earnings of father and nationality of mother.Total.
Less
than 3.
All mothers....................
Father’s earnings:
Under $450...............................
$450 to $549......... . .................. .
$550 to $649.............................. .
$650 to $849.............................. .
$850 to $1,049............'.............. .
$1,050 to $1,249............ ............
$1,250 and over........................
No earnings.............................
No report................................
Native mothers................
Father’s earnings:
Under $450...............................
$450 to $549..............................
$550 to $649..............................
$650 to $849..............................
$850 to $1,049...........................
$1,250 and over........................
No earnings............................
No report...............................Foreign-born mothers___
Father’s earnings:
Under $450...............................
$450 to $549.................. .
$550 to $649..............................
$650 to $849..............................
$850 to $1,049...........................
$1,050 to $1,249........................
$1,250and over.......................
No earnings.............................
N o report................................
Portguese-white mothers...
Father’s earnings:
Under $450...............................
$450 to $549............. ................
$550 to $649..............................
$650 to $849..............................
$850 to $1,049...........................
No earnings.............................
No report.............................. .
Other foreign-born mothers
Father’s earnings:
Under $450...............................
$450 to $549..............................
$550 to $649..............................
$650 to $849............................
$850 to $1,049...........................
$1,050 to $1,249........................
$1,250 and over............... .
No earnings............................
No report................................
a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 but less
than 6.
6 and
over.
557
253
263
41
190
134
81
59
48
40
9
97
62
46
43
5
12
3
15
7
1
2
12
1
3
5
1
99
55
40
4
20
ii
9
14
8
1
10
8
1
1
2
100
90
16
2
18
25
21
11
1
1
9
13
6
7
2
5
4
1
1
7
5
2
2
458
198
223
37
170
116
75
69
70
50
34
29
5
89
53
36
35
4
11
2
11
2
2
8
1
1
7
1
1
1
13
5
5
2
5
1
3
1
200
105
87
8
99
49
29
16
51
29
15
45
19
4
4
1
6
71
67
46
53
10
2
2
4
3
Excluding infant born during selected year.
3
1
2
2
2
2
258
12
8
1
93
136
29
19
44
34
24
27
3
8
12
21
19
23
5
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
2
1
103
_ N E W BEDFORD, MASS.
T a b l e 29.— Dwellings a occupied by mothers o f specified nath\ty, according to specified
sanitary condition o f dwelling.
Dwellings occupied by—
Sanitary condition of dwelling.
Total dwellings.........
Rooms:
Clean.............................
Medium........................
Dirty.............................
Not reported...............
Water supply:
C ity...........................
Dug well......................
Driven well..................
Spring...........................
Not reported................
Type of toilet:
Water-closet.................
Wet privy....................
Dry p rivy....................
Cesspool........................
No toilet.......................
Not reported................
Location of toilet:
In dwelling..................
On porch......................
In yard.........................
In cellar........................
No toilet.......................
Not reported................
Sewer connection:
Sink connected............
Sipk not connected. . . ,
Not reported................
Toilet connected..........
Toilet not connected...
No toilet.......................
Not reported................
All
Native Foreignborn
mothers. mothers.
mothers.
2,638
747
1,891
1,166
1,249
159
64
404
285
36
762
964
123
42
2,586
27
9
4
733
22
8
2
1
12
3
2,502
43
87
713
1,853
19
7
3
9
27
1,789
37
60
3
1
2
1
2
1,815
19
137
656
555
6
2
1
1,260
9
104
509
2
1
8
10
1
10
2,565
728
17
66
7
2,491
140
1
6
33
147
-
2
709
36
1,837
49
5
1,782
104
2
4
1
a Dwelling means place in which family lived during greater part of year following baby’s birth, or in case
of stillborn child, where mother spent greater part of her period of pregnancy. Difference between number
of dwellings and number of births shown in other tables is due to the fact that there were 22 sets of twins,
6 to native mothers and 16 to foreign-born mothers, and 1 set of triplets to foreign-born mother.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
104
IN F A N T MORTALITY.
T a b l e 3 0 . — Births during selected year in dwellings o f specified number o f rooms, according
to number o f persons in dwelling and nativity o f mother.
Number of rooms in dwelling.
Total
births.
Persons® in dwelling and
nativity of mother.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
17
152
745
990
360
210
78
33
22
8
21
360
1
463
458 . . .
376
291
248
169
104
69
3
7
45
36
32
139
173
159
105
77
55
27
114
160
171
143
109
109
73
42
31
32
33
55
51
50
45
45
28
15
14
23
1
8
11
2
1
13
5
13
5
5
5
7
1
1
1
2
4
4
5
7
2
1
1
6
1
7
15
18
27
30
15
26
28
15
29
37
Total.............................. 2,662
Persons in dwelling:
2 .........................................
3............................ . . . . . . .
4.........................................
5.........................................
6 .........................................
7.......................................
8 ........................................
9.........................................
10 .......................................
2
2
1
1
1
20
11
4
3
1
102
32
Native mothers................
Persons in dwelling:
2 .........................................
3............................. ...........
4.........................................
5.........................................
6 .........................................
7............ ............................
8 .......................................
9........................................
10 .......................................
6
2
1
1
753 . . . .
2
33
184
232
133
72
144
167
133
103
83
51
27
i
1
12
53
50
41
48
59
39
27
27
15
9
3
4
16
31
6
8
4
10
2
4
1
20
12
21
9
7
2
1
9
4
Foreign-bom mothers___ 1,909
Persons in dwelling:
2 .........................................
3 . . . . ............ ........ .............
4 .........................................
5.........................................
0 ................... ......................
7.........................................
8 .........................................
9.........................................
10 .......................................
1 1 or more.........................
Not reported.....................
206
296
325
273
208
197
142
84
57
93
28
1
1
15
119
2
6
2
2
1
22
1
1
2
1
33
32
18
7
4
561
86
123
118
84
68
48
25
5
2
1
1
20
22
20
11
2
5
11
8
1
13
6
6
8
5
3
3
758
227
138
66
10 1
17
24
31
28
25
34
26
7
9
16
17
9
6
10
ii
20
1
4
8
9
1
132
116
82
94
64
39
27
31
6
3
6
2
10 1 1
3
3
4
2
2
2
1
3
1
1
22
14
6
1
2
1
1
3
4
?
5
4
5
3
2
1
2
1
3
3
3
3
2
1
41 ' l l
1
1
6
5
4
8
1
1
2
2
1
3
1
25
1
2
2
1
1
i
i
i
5
23
15
3
i
4 i
3
1
2
2
1
1
2
2
6
1
1
1
1
2
3
22
1
1
8
2
20
20
12
5
3
7
27
i
i
i
1
2
1
3
3
1
20
1
a Excluding infant bom during selected year.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
12
and No re
over. port.
1
N E W BEDFORD, MASS,
T
105
31.
Births in selected year, infant deaths, infant mortality rate, and per cent
stillbirths, according to number o f persons per room in selected area and nativity
mother.
*
able
Stillbirths.
Persons a per room and nativity 6f mother.
All mothers............ '...........
In unfavorable area:
All mothers.............................
Less than 1...............................
1but less than 2 ...........................
2 but less than 3 ...........................
3 but less than 5......................
Not reported.............................
Native mothers............................
Less than 1..........................
1but less than 2 .......................
2 but less than 3 ......................
Foreign-bom mothers..........................
Less than 1............................
1but less than 2................
2 but less than 3..............................
3 but less than 5............................
Not reported.............................
In favorable area:
All mothers......................
Native mothers...................
F oreign-bom mothers..........................
a
Total
births.
Infant
deaths.
Infant
mortality
rate.&
2,662
1,527
565
819
113
5
25
282
147
125
1,488
546
801
1,245
418
694
103
5
25
1,212
5
25
3
9
1,135
471
664
1,099
453
646
41
63
10
Excluding infant born during selected year.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Live
births.
111
5
25
276
143
124
9
403
677
102
b
129
25
3
9
4
195
107
161.0
Number.
Per cent
of total
births, b
75
2.8
39
19
18
2.6
3.4
2.2
1.8
1
160.9
136.5
33
15
17
1
905
Not shown where base is less than 100.
2.1
2.7
0.8
2.7
3.6
2.4
1.0
3.2
3.8
2.7
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INDEX.
Page.
at death, analysis of infant mortality b y . 25-27
causes of death reflected by......................
-27
Age of mother, analysis of infant mortality
rate b y .....................................
29
analysis of plural births b y .......................
30
and occupation, classification of illegiti
mate births b y ................................
65
stillbirth rate b y ......................
28
Annual report of board of health for 1915, ex
cerpt from................
49
Area, registration, birth. S e e Birth-registra
tion area.
death. See Death-registration area,
“ unfavorable.” S e e “ Unfavorable” area.
Artificial feeding. S e e Feeding, artificial.
Ashes, refuse, and garbage, disposal of..........
53
Association, Instructive Nursing. S e e In
structive Nursing Association.
Asylum, infant, in Holyoke, infant mortality
rate increased b y .............................
11
Attendance at birth. S e e Birth, attendance
at.
Average number of persons per room. S e e
Housing.
18
Azores, Portuguese immigrants from the.......
Age
Bacteriologist, samples of milk analyzed by..
50
See also Milk supply.
Birth, attendance at, by midwives, according
to nationality................................ 30-31,67
30,67
by physicians.................
infant mortality rate by.....................
31
other than physician or midwife.......
32
Birth certificate, fee provided for return o f..
47
for child of illegitimate birth, information
concerning father prohibited on...
63
midwives required to return..................... 31,47
penalty for failure to return................
47
physicians and midwives required to
47
return, in specified time.................
statement in regard to legitimacy omitted
from................. ........... ...... . .............
63
Birth, child of illegitimate,. court action
against father of...............................
65
data unsatisfactory for....... ................
74
disposition of.......................................
64
information concerning father pro
hibited on birth certificate for.'___
63
order of, analysis of infant mortality rate
b y .........................
29
analysis of stillbirths by.....................28,29
Birth rate for New Bedford.........................
11-12
Birth-registration area, admission to, of
Massachusetts..................................
47
requirement for.. — ..........................
47
infant mortality rate for, and for specified
States and cities in, in.1915............ 66,71
States comprised in, in 1915. j...................
71
154220°— 20— - 8
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Page.
Births, classes of, included m report...............
74
excluded, infant mortality rates for.. 77-78
distribution of, by earnings of father.......
67
by earnings of father and nativity of
m other......................
3g
by occupation of father................. . 36,67
illegitimate, classification of, by age,
occupation, and n a t i o n a l i t y of
mother...................................
65
comparison of mortality rate for, with
average rate......................................
76
comparison of mortality rate for, with
rate for legitimate births................
64
comparison of rates for, in specified
Massachusetts cities........................
63
comparison of, with percentages for
63
foreign countries..............................
•xcessive mortality among, causes of.
64
exclusion of.................. ................. 74,76,77
liability of father under law in cases
o f.............................. ................... .
65
mothers of, care received in confine
ment b y ............................................
64
proportion of, among total registered
bifth s...............................................
63
stillbirths among, number of.............
64
l i v e , exclusions of, for specified rea
sons............................................ 13,74,76,77
per cent of, in “ unfavorable” area...
15
number of, according to average number
of persons per r o o m ......................... 61-62
by age of mother.................................
29
by order of birth........... ................. 7.
29
by sex, and by nativity 0 f mother.. .
28
plural, analysis of, by age of mother........
infant mortality rate for..................
stillbirth rate for.................................
30
30
28
proportion of, in lower economic groups. 37-38
69
to illiterate mothers............................ 20,66
registered, canvass to supplement........... 75,77
infant mortality rate for................
78
" proportion of illegitimate births
among................
63
use of, as basis for study.....................
13
registration of stillbirths as.......................
still. S e e Stillbirths,
to mothers of specified nationality, ac
cording to their ability to speak
English..........................................
21
to mothers of specified nativity gainfully
employed after childbirth, by earn
ings of father....................................
41
79
unregistered, exclusion of, from stu d y ...
77
exclusion of infant deaths among___
77
percentage of, in study........... ........... 48,78
107
108
INDEX,
Page.
Board of charity, State, control of infant
54
hoarding homes by....................... licenses for infant-boarding homes
granted by........................................
54
Board of health, activities of, toward pre
vention of infant mortality.............48-49
annual report of, for 1915, excerpt from. .
49
cooperation of, in improvement of
dumps...........................................-53
54
licensing of day nurseries by.............
oculist employed by..............................
32
permit secured from, for use of land as
dump.... ............
53
48
personnel of---------------power of, to limit number of occupants
in tenement or lodging house_____
59
to order vacated any dwelling unfit
for habitation....... *................... ......
59
Portuguese-speaking nurse employed by.
32
provisions of, covering milk supply------- 49-50
State, supervision of water supply by.,..
51
supervision by, over collection and dis
posal of garbage.......................
53
over milk supply............................>..
49
symptoms of ophthalmia neonatorum to
32
be reported to---------------------------treatment of ophthalmia neonatorum by
oculist employed by....................
32,48
visits of nurse from..................
48
Boarding homes, infant, control of, by State
board of charity.....................
54
law relating to...............................
54
licensed, number of,in New Bedford.
54
Brava, island of, emigration from, by Portu
guese Negroes........... .........
19
“ Bravas,” Portuguese Negroes known as— 17,19
Brockton and New Bedford. S e e New Bed
ford and Brockton.
Campaign for improvement of milk supply..
51
Canvass, registered births supplemented by a 75,77
Cape Verde Islands, “ Bravas” from.............. 17,19
Care of unmarried mothers in confinement. .
64
Causes of death. S e e Death, causes of.
Causes of variations in infant mortality rates,
method of determining— .............
71
Certificate, birth. See Birth certificate.
Characteristics of cities investigated...............
72
Charity, board of. S e e Board of charity.
Child bom out of wedlock. S e e Birth, child
of illegitimate.
Child, illegitimate. S e e Birth, child of illegiti
mate.
Children’s Bureau, law creating, passage of,
by Sixty-second Congress...............
71
precedence given in, to study of infant
m ortality.....------- --------- . . . . . . . .
71
method of determining infant mortality ;
rate b y ....................................
73
studies of infant mortality previously
made b y ...........................................
11
Cities selected for investigation, characteris
tics o f.......................... — ..............
72
Cities, specified, comparison of, by rates for
illegitimate births............................
63
comparison of infant mortality rates
for, by age at death,............................... 26
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Page.
Cities, comparison of infant mortality rates
for, by cause of death............ 23-24,66-67 ^
infant mortality studies previously
m ad ein ...............................
11
stillbirth rates for, comparison of. —
27
textile manufacturing, infant mortality
rates for.............
H
City water. S e e Water, city.
Civic and social factors.............................. 47-54,68
Clinics, services of physicians for...................
54
Conditions, improvement in, since time of
study, through:
Activities of health department..............
68
Housing law of 1915..........................i ----- < 59
New system of sewage disposal...............
52
54
Passage erf new day-nursery law............
Confinement, care received in, b y unmarried
mothers............................. ; ........... 64
Conclusions of the study................................. 66-69
Contrast between New Bedford and Brock
ton. S e e New Bedford and Brock
ton, contrast between.
Cooperation of city officials, etc., in study—
13
of mothers in study.......... ........................ 13,76
Cotton mills. S e e Mills, cotton.
Cottontextiles, manufacture of, chief industry.
36
Court action against father of child of illegiti
mate birth.......... .........
65
Court proceedings in specified cases of ille
gitimacy............................................
65
Dairies. S e e Milk supply.
Data submitted in report, births covered by.
74
D ay nurseries, lack of official supervision o f..
54
licensing of, requirement of law of 1919
pertaining t o ...............................—
54
16
Day nursery in ward 1........ — ....... - ..........- Death, age at__________ ______ - ....................25-27
influence of nationality upon...............26-27
cause o f............................ - .................. 22,66-67
25
by calendar months...............
relation of feeding to............................
36
causes of, age at death reflects..................
27
under 1 month........... .........................
25
S e e a lso Mortality.
I Death rate. S e e Mortality rate.
Death-registration area, admission to, of
Massachusetts—. .................
47
i
in 1910, infant mortality rate for..............
71
mortality in, under 1 month.....................
25
|Deaths and stillbirths, confusion between.. .
79
i “ Death’s Hole,” type of cottage in ................
57
Deaths, per cent distribution of, by age........
26
per cent of, in “ unfavorable” area...........
16
registration of stillbirths as...... ...............
79
specified, exclusion of, from study............ 74,76
i Definition, of infant mortality rate..................
72
of miscarriage.. . v .........- .........................27,78
of stillb irth .,.............................................. 27,78
Demonstration wagon, work of, in “ better
m ilk” campaign...... ........................
51
Diseases of early infancy, mortality rate from,
by nationality..................................
24
comparison of, with cities previously
studied.,................................
24,67
Diseases, gastric and intestinal. S e e Gastric
and intestinal diseases.
IN D E X ,
Page.
Diseases, ophthalmia neonatorum. S e e Oph
thalmia neonatorum,
respiratory. S e e Respiratory diseases,
specified, comparison of mortality
from, for “ unfavorable” area with
rest of city...............................
24-25
Disposal of ashes, refuse, and garbage.........
53
Disposal of sewage. S e e Sewage, method of
disposal of.
Distribution of economic groups.......................37-38
District. S e e Housing: Section {specified].
Dublin, Dr. Louis I., infant mortality study
by, in Fall River, Mass......................
19
Dumps, complaints against, as nuisances...
53
improvement of, cooperation in ..............
53
permit required for use o f lands as.........
53
use of, as playgrounds..........................
53
Dwellings. S e e Housing: Dwellings.
109
Page.
Employment of mother, gainful, before
childbirth, influence of, upon in
fant mortality rate.......................... 42-43
41
by-nativity.........................................
classification of.................................
42
distribution of births, b y ...................
67
in cotton mills, analysis of.................
46
influence of, upon infant mortality
rate............................................... 41-45,68
legislation in regard to........................
47
poverty the cause o f................. 40-41,67-68
English, ability of mother to speak, infant
mortality rate by............ ................
66
and nationality, infant mortality rate
and per cent of stillbirths b y ___
21
Exclusion of specified births, reasons fo r ___
13,
73-74,76-78
Exclusion of specified deaths, reasons for___74,76
Exclusion of miscarriages.....................
78
Exclusion of specified stillbirths, reasons
for.......................... ...................... 78-79,80
Exclusions, infant mortality rate for specified
classes of, analysis of....... ................
78
Eyes, care of, at birth......................................
32
diseased, symptoms of, to be reported to
board of health............ .......
32
S e e a lso Ophthalmia neonatorum.
Early infancy, diseases of. S e e Diseases of
early infancy.
Earnings of father and gainful employment
of mother, relation between.......... 40-41,
46,67-68
Earnings of father and nativity of mother,
distribution of births b y ....... .......
38
infant mortality rate b y ............................38-39
relation between........................................
38
stillbirth rate b y . . ; ................ ; ................
39 Factors, civic and social............................... 47-54
Earnings of father, births to mothers of speci
economic................... ................................ 36-47
fied nativity gainfully employed
Fall River, Mass., results of infant mortality
after childbirth, by.............
41
study in, by Dr. Louis I. Dublin..
19
distribution of births b y ...................... 37-38,67 Families, distribution of, by earnings of
economic status classified b y ...................
37
father................................................ 37-38
influence of, upon infant morta lity rate. 39,67,69 Family, economic status of, determined by
S e e a lso Economic status.
earnings of father.............................
37
Economic groups, distribution of..................... 37-38
40
size of, and economic status....................
Economic status and size of family, relation
relation of nativity to.........................
40
between..... ............
40 Father, liability of, under law, in cases of
Economic status, earnings of father basis of
illegitimate births......... .................
65
classification for..............................
37 Father’s earnings. S e e Earnings of father.
influence of, upon housing congestion...
62 Feeding, artificial, among infants of mothers
upon infant mortality rate............ 38-39,67
of specified working status, by age
relation of, to gainful employment of
of infant...........................................
45
mother............................... 40-41,46,67-68
comparison of, with breast feeding.. 34-36
Economic status of families, in river section.. 55-56
importance of right methods in...........32,35
in “ unfavorable” area.........................
39-40
breast, comparison of, with artificial feed
Economic status of mothers employed in
ing..................................................... 34-36
cotton mills.............................
46
importance of.....................................
32
S e e also Earnings of father.
relation of, to cause of death....................
36
Employment of mother away from home
type of, and employment of mother, re
after childbirth, influence of, upon
lation between........................
45
infant mortality rate..................: . . 43-44
by month of life.................................... 33,34
upon mortality from gastric and intes
comparison of, by nationality of
tinal diseases....................................
46
mother.....................................
33-34
upon type of feeding...................... 33,45-46
infant mortality affected by..............
32
Employment of mother before childbirth
infant mortality rates by.............. 34-36,67
and nativity of mother, births, in
influence of gainful employment of
fant mortality rate, and stillbirths
mother upon............................... 33,45-46
b y ......................— ........................
42
influence of nationality upon.............
33
Employment of mother, classification of
influence of, upon health of surviving
illegitimate births b y ....................
65
infants.............
33
gainful, after childbirth, births to mothers
proportions of infants fed, by..................... 33
of specified nativity in each eco
Fire protection. S ee Housing: Fire protec
nomic group, b y ...............................
41
tion.
away from home, comparison of, for
Foreign-born mothers, literacy and ability
New Bedford and Brockton...........
69
of, to speak English...........................20,66
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
110
INDEX,
Page.
Illegitimacy, court proceedings in specified
cases of................... ..........................
65
special study of.......................................... 63-65
Gainful employment of mother. See Em
Illegitimate births. S e e Births, illegitimate.
ployment of mother, gainful.
Illegitimate child. S e e Birth, child of ille
Garbage, collection and disposal of................
63
gitimate.
supervision over, by board of health.
53 Immigration, effect upon, of industrial de
extractor plant for......................................
53
velopment..........................
18
Gastric and intestinal diseases, mortality
Improvement in conditions since time of
from, among Portuguese. 23,36,67
study, through:
by nativity of mother........................
23
Activities of health department............ . * 68
comparison of, in specified cities.. 66-67,69
Housing law of 1915................................
59
25
in summer months............................New system of sewage disposal................
52
methods of prevention of.............
24,69
Passage of new day-nursery law................
54
relation of feeding to............................ 24,36 Industries in New Bedford........................... 12,36
relation of gainful employment of
Industry, development of, as affecting immi
mother to.....................- ..................
46
gration........................................
18
Infant mortality. S ee Mortality, infant.
Health, board of. See Board of health.
Infant welfare, problems of, methods applica
Holyoke, infant asylum in, infant mortality
ble t o . . . . . . . ......................................
68
rate increased by.............................
H Infant-welfare stations, efficacy of, in pre
Homes, boarding. See Boarding homes.
vention of infant mortality.............. 54,68
Hospital facilities for obstetrical cases..................... 31
maintenance of, by Instructive Nursing
Hospitals, infant mortality rate for confine
Association....................................... 54,68
ments in .. ..............................- ........
31
volunteer services of physicians for.........
54
Housing:
Inquiry, scope o f.........................
71-72
Average number of persons per room, in
Instructive Nursing Association, work of— 54,68
fant mortality rate by..............— 61-62
Intestinal diseases. S e e Gastric and intes
number of births by..............................61-62
tinal diseases.
stillbirth rate by...................... . ..........
62
Dwellings unfit for habitation, power of
board of health to order vacated. . .
59 Johnstown, Pa.,birth registration in, methods
of supplementing.............................
75
Fire protection, legislation in regard to ..
59
methods of meeting regulations in
60
regard to.............__ ___ - .................
60 Land congestion in relation to housing.........
Law creating Children’s Bureau, passage of,
Legislation, need of, to prevent lot con
by Sixty-second Congress...............
71
61
gestion.........«....................................
precedence given in, to study of infant
Section, “ Death’s Hole,” type of cottage
mortality..........................
71
in ........... ............................................
57
“ Howland Village,” description of.. 58-59 Law, liability of father under, in cases of
illegitimate births......................
65
native-colored, description of.............
58
prohibiting information concerning father
newer, description of............................ 58-59
on certificate for i Ilegitímate birth.
63
river, congestion in............................... 55-56
relating to employment of mothers.........
47
description of...................................55-57
enforcement of.....................................
47
economic status of families in-----55-56
relating to fire protection..........................
59
typeis of houses in...... ....................55-56
relating to housing...................................... 59-60
‘ ‘ unfavorable ’ ’ area included in .
55
relating to i nfant-boarding homes............
54
well-to-do, description of......................57-58
Legislation, need of, to prevent lot conges
Tenement or lodging house, number of
tion.............
61
occupants in, power of board of
S e e a ls o Law.
health to limit..................................
59
Legitimacy, statement in regard to, omission
Housing, conditions of, no discrimination
63
of, from birth certificate..................
against colored persons in...............
58
Length of residence. S e e Residence, length
congestion in, influence of economic fac
of, in the United States.
62
tors upon.........................................
within the home....................................61,62 Licenses for day nurseries, requirement of law
pertaining t o ....................................
54
effect of, upon infant welfare....................
55
findings of the study on.............................. 61-62 Licenses for infant-boarding homes, approval
of board of health required for----54
land congestion in relation to.................
60
legislation in regard to.................................59-60 Life Tables, United, States, decline in mor
tality rates shown in, by month
method of discussion of.............................
55
of l if e ................................................
27
nativity as related to................................
62
poor, comprised in “ unfavorable” area. .
62 Literacy of mother and ability to speak Eng
lish, influence of, upon infant mor
problem of, that of regulation.....................60-61
tality rate........ ........................... 20- 22,66
“ Howland Village.” S e e Housing: Section,
Literacy of mothers employed in cotton mills.
46
“ Howland Village.”
Page.
Foreign b o m , percentage of, in New Bedford. 12-13
proportion of,in “ unfavorable” area----66
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INDEX,
111
Page.
Page.
Manchester, infant mortality rate for FrenchMortality, infants, b y order of birth..............
29
Canadian group in...........................
12
causes of, by calendar m onths.........
25
and New Bedford, infant mortality rates
comparison of, with mortality at
for French-Canadian group in, con
71
other periods of life....................
trast between...................................
19
data, methods of treating..................
73
Manufacture, cotton textiles chief product of.
36
efficacy of infant-welfare stations in
Massachusetts, admission of, to birth-regis
prevention o f ............ ....................
68
47
tration area....................... ...............
excessive, among Portuguese group.
19,
to death-registration area...................
47
67,68
Method of determining causes of variations in
feeding in relation to......................... . 32,36
infant mortality rates.....................
71
24
from diseases of early infancy...........
Method of determining infant mortality rate,
from gastric and intestinal diseases. 22-24,
by Children’s Bureau........... ............73,76
36,66-67
usual, inaccuracy of....................... 72-73,76,77
from respiratory diseases.....................24,67
Method of determining stillbirth rate............ 78-80
influence o f housing upon........ .'........
55
Method of procedure in study....................13,71-80
Influence of nationality upon.. 18-19,26-27
Methods applicable to problems of infant
precedence given to study of, in law
welfare.........................
68
creating Children’ s Bureau............
71
Methods of prevention, influence of national
prevention of, activities of board of
ity upon..................
27
health tow ard...... ............................ 48-49
Methods of treating data, specified, true
76
study, method of procedure in .........
differences in the incidence of in
study of, in Fall River, Mass., b y Dr.
fant deaths obtained b y .................
73
Louis I. D u b lin .............................
19
Midwives, attendance at birth by............... 30-31,67 Mortality rate, infant, according to earnings of
according to nationality....... .............
31
father and nativity of mother.......... 38-39
cases attended by, visited by board of
according to average number of per
health nurse................1....................
48
sons per room......................
61-62
31
law ignores existence of.............................
b y age 0 f mother......... .......................
29
return of birth certificates required of.. .. 31,47
by attendance at birth........................
31
“ Midwivesin Massachusetts,” excerpt from..
32
by literacy of mother.......................... 20,66
Milk, method of testing....................................
50
by mother’s ability to speak English. 20,66
Milk siipply, analysis of, by bacteriologist. . .
50
by mother’s length of residence in
distribution of........ ..................................
49
the United States............................. 19-20
improvement of, campaign for.................
51
by nationality o f mother...............18-19,66
49
inspection of..............................................
by nationality of mother and ability
methods of handling, improvement in. . .
51
to speak English ...........
21
omissions in regulations governing........:
50
by nativity of mother and employ
provisions covering.........................
49-50
ment before childbirth....................
42
regulation of specified standards for, by
by precinct of residence......................
15
State laws.........................................
50
by sex of infant and nativity of
relation of cleanliness in, to gastric and
mother..............................................
28
intestinal diseases............ ..............
51
by type o f feeding....... .........................34-36
supervision of, by board of health...........
49
comparison of, for legitimate and ille
Mill houses. See Housing.
gitimate births................................ 64,76
Mills, cotton, economic status of mothers em
conditions shown b y ..........................
71
ployed in....................
46
decline in, as earnings of father in
length of time before childbirth that
crea se......................................... 39,67,69
mother’s employment in, ceased. .
43
decline in, for each month of life..................27
literacy 0 f mothers employed in........
46
definition of.........................................
72
nativity of mothers employed in.......
46
differences in, according to gainful
textile, mortality rate for infants of
employment of mother before child
mothers employed before child
birth at home and away from home.
42
birth in.............................................
42
effect upon, of exclusion of illegiti
Miscarriage, definition of................................. 27,78
mate births........................
76
Miscarriages, exclusion of................................ 78,79
exclusive of Portuguese group......... . 68-69
registration of, accuracy of registration
for artificially fed, differences in, by
of stillbirths increased by...............
79
nativity..................
35-36,67
and stillbirths, confusion between...........
79
for birth-registration area, in 1915____ 66,71
Mortality, infant, among illegitimate births,
for births included in study.............. 15,78
factors in.............................. ; .........
64
for death-registration area in 1910___
71
by age at death, comparision of,
for first-born children, by nationality
for specified cities...........................
26
of mother..........................................
29
by causes... . . ...........
22
for groups excluded from study.......... 77-78
by month of life of infant during
for illegitimate births....................
64
which mother commenced work
for New Bedford and Brockton, con
away from home .•...........................
44
trast between............................... .. 12,68
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
112
INDEX,
Page.
New Bedford and Brockton, birth registra
tion supplemented in, by canvass. .
75
12,68-69
contrast between.....................
69
proportion of infants breast fed in ...........
New Bedford and Manchester, contrast be
tween, in infant mortality rates for
French-Canadian group...............
19
Night soil, removal of, contract for, by private
53
company...................... j..................
Nurse employed by board of health, visits of,
48
in cases of childbirth.................
Nurse, Portuguese-speaking, employed by
board of health...................... •........
32
Nursery, day. S e e Hay nursery.
Nursing Association, Instructive. S e e In
structive Nursing Association.
Nationality, attendance at birth by mid
Nursing, public-health, importance of ade
wives , according to..........................
31
quate facilities for................................
68
effect of, upon customs of infant care—
18
groups, proportion of, in “ unfavorable”
Obstetrical cases, hospital facilities for..........
31
area............................
16,17,66 Occupation and age of mother, classification
influence of, upon infant’s age at death... 26-27
65
ofillegitimate births b y ......................
upon infant mortality rate for New
Occupation of father, distribution of births by 36,67
Bedford and Brockton.......... , ........
68 Oculist employed by board of health, treat
upon methods of preventive work----27
ment of ophthalmia neonatorum by 32,48
upon type of feeding......................
33
Ophthalmia neonatorum, treatment of, by
population by.................................... 17-18,66
oculists employed by board of
28
stillbirth rates by..................................
health................................................32,48
Nationality of mother and ability to speak
Order of birth. See Birth, order of.
English, infant mortality rate and
Ordinance relating to milk supply...................
49
per cent of stillbirths by...................
21 Ordinances relating to housing.........................59-60
Nationality of mother, comparison of type of
60
feeding by ................................... 33-34,67 Parks, number of, in New Bedford................
Pasteurization. S e e Milk supply.
infant mortality rate, b y .......... ..........18-19,66
Penalty for failure to return birth certificates.
47
from specified diseases, b y .................. 23-24
Physicians, attendanc e at birth b y ................30,67
infants of illegitimate birth, by..........
65
return of birth certificates required of, in
influence of, upon attendance at birth... 30-31
specified tim e...................................
47
Native-colored district. See Housing: Sec
services of, volunteer, for infant-welfare
tion, native-colored.
station s.......... ....................
54
Nativity, families living in “ unfavorable”
Playgrounds, dumps used as..........................
53
40
area, by........................................- number of, in New Bedford....................:
60
• influence of, upon infant mortality rates
for artificially fed........................ 35-36,67 Plural births. S e e Births, plural.
Police, cooperation of, in improvement of
relation of, to gainful employment of
dumps..............................................
53
mother................... - .................... 40-42,46
Population of New Bedford........... ................
12
to housing......................................
62
Population, proportion of, foreign born— 12-13
to size of family................................. 40
17-18,66
Nativity of mother and earnings of father,
18
infant mortality rate by..................
39 Portuguese, colony of, in New Bedford.........
immigration b y .........................................
19
per cent distribution of births by..........
38
infant mortality excessive among, from
relations between................................
38
gastric and intestinal diseases... 23,36,67
stillbirth rate by.................................
39
infant mortality rate for New Bedford
Nativity of mother and sex of infant, infant
exclusive o f .....................................
69
mortality rate and stillbirths by. . . .
28
Nativity of mother, attendance at birth by. . .
30 Portuguese Negroes, emigration by, from is
land of Brava.........................
19
Negroes, no discrimination against, in condi
Portuguese white, attendance upon, by mid
58
tions of housing.........................
wives..........................
67
New Bedford, birth rate for....................
11
per cent of infants breast fed among........33-34
cotton textiles chief industry of.......... 12,36,66
death rate for....... — .............. .................
12 Poverty, gainful employment of mother
caused b y ........................... - ........... 40-41
description of............................ . . . . . . . . .
12
foreign element in............. ".......................
12 Precinct of residence, infant mortality rate
b y ....................'............... ................
15
industrial development of. . . . . . . . ....
12
Precincts 1, 2,3,13, and 17, description o f . ..
16
infant mortality fate for, in 1913.......
11
comprised i n “ unfavorable ’ ’ area...........
39
population of...............................
12
Prevention, methods of, influence of nation
reasons for selection o f . . . . . . . ..........
11-12
ality upon.......................
27
wages low in...............................
66
Page.
Mortality rate, infant, for New Bedford in
11
1913.......................................... - .......
for plural births...................................
30
for specified cities, by cause of death.
23
for specified Massachusetts cities.......
11
for States and cities in birth-registra
tion area in 1915, variations in.......
71
for “ unfavorable” area, comparison of,
with rest of city..................... 16,24-25,66
incomplete registration as affecting.. . 73,75
influence upon, of economic factors..
38,
41-45,62,68
methods of determining............... 72-73,76
Mothers, unmarried, care received in confine
ment by..............................—
64
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN D E X .
Page.
Privies, namber o f...........................................
52
Procedure, method of, in study............... . 13,71-80
Proceedings, court, in specified cases of ille
65
gitimacy..................... .....................
Piiblic-health nursing. S e e Nursing, public
health.
113
Page.
Stillbirth, definition of......... ............... ..........27,78
Stillbirth rate, by age of mother....................28,29
by average number of persons per room..
62
by earnings of father and nativity of
mother..............................................
39
by literacy of mother............ ....... ..........
20
28
by nationality of mother..........................
Rate, birth. S e e Birth rate,
by nationality o f mother and ability to
death. S e e Mortality rate,
speak English.................................
21
infant mortality. S e e Mortality rate, in
by nativity of mother and employment
fant.
42
before childbirth.............................
stillbirth. S e e Stillbirth rate.
by order of birth ....................................28,29
Refuse, disposal of, on dumps............ ...........
53
28
by sex, and by nativity of mother..........
S e e a lso Dumps.
for plural births...................... ..................
28
Registered births. S e e Births, registered.
foi specified cities, comparison of..............
27
Registration area, birth. S e e Birth-registra
methods of determining.................... ...... 78,79
tion area.
Stillbirths, exclusions of, for specified rea
death. S e e Death-registration area.
sons...........'. . ............................. i 78-79,80
Registration,birth,canvass to supplement. 48,75,77
number of, among illegitimate births.......
64
comparison of,with deathregistration.
73
number and rate of...................................
27
influence of, upon choice of cities
registration of, as births and deaths........
79
72
to be studied............ ............
difficulty in supplementing....... .......
79
methods of supplementing................... 48,75
increase in accuracy of, by registra
thoroughness of, in New Bedford___
48
tion of miscarriages........................
79
death, comparison of, with birth registra
law doubtful as to, in some States. . .
79
tion ...................................................
73
margin of error in...................
79
incomplete, comparability of infant mor
physicians more conversant than
tality rates affected b y . ................... 73,75
midwives with law concerning......
79
methods of overcoming................. . . .
75
Street department, collection and disposal of
Registration of miscarriages in some States. . .
79
ashes under supervision of................ 53
Registration of stillbirths as births and’
cooperation of, in improvement of dumps.
53
deaths.......... .....................................
79
Streets, cleaning, sprinkling, and oiling of.. .
53
Registration of stillbirths, difficulty in sup
paving of....................................................
53
plementing....................................
79
Study, cities selected for, characteristics of...
72
law doubtful as to, in some States...........
79
cooperation in, by city officials, e t c .
13
margin of error in ............................
79 ,
by mothers............ ............ ................13,76
Residence, length of, in the United States,
method of procedure in ....................... 13 71-80
influence of mother’ s, upon infant
Summary and conclusions._ __________ _____ 66-69
mortality rate...........................
19 -20
Respiratory diseases, mortality from, amnng
Tenements. S e e Housing.
infants
of Portuguese-white
Test for milk. S e e Milk supply.
mothers....... .....................................
67
Textile mills. S e e MiHs, textile.
comparison of, m specified cities. . . 24,67,69
Textiles, cotton, chief industry of New Bed
25
in winter months.............................
ford.................................... .............. 36,66
prevention o f..... ......................
69
Toilets, per cent of, connected with sewer___
52
River section. S ee Housing: Section, river.
S e e a lso Sewerage system; a lso Hous
ing.
Saginaw, birth registration in, methods of
supplementing.................................
75 Type of feeding. S e e Feeding, type of.
Sanitation...................... . . . . . ' ................
5 1-5 3
“ Unfavorable” area, comparison of infant
* S e e a lso Housing.
mortality rate for, with rest of
Scope of inquiry................
71-72
City....................
16,24-25,66
Section [specifiedj-of city, description of. S e e
day nursery in ..........................................
45
Housing: Section.description of................................... 15-17,39-40
Sewage, method of disposal of, in 1913...........
52
families living in, economic status of.......39-40
in 1916.........................................
52
nativity o f......... ............................ 16,40,66
Sewerage system, adequacy of...... .................. 5 1-5 2
housing, poor, comprised in ......... .
62
Sex of infant and nativity of mother, analysis
per cent of deaths in ......... ......................
43
of infant mortality rate b y .............
28
per cent of live births in ....... ..................
45
stillbirth rate b y ........................
28
precincts 1,2, 3,13, and 17 comprised in,
Sex, stillbirth rate b y ......................................
28
description o f .. ........... .............. 16-17 39
Social agencies........................
54
S e e a lso Housing: Section, river.
Social and civic factors.................................... 47-54
United States Life Tables, decline in mor
Stations, infant-welfare. S e e Infant-welfare
tality rates shown in, by month of
stations.
life.................
27
Statistics, vital, records of, city clerks charged
with keeping..........................
47 Vital statistics. S e e Statistics, vital.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
114
INDEX,
Page.
Wages in New Bedford....................................
66
Wagon, demonstration, work of, in “ better
m ilk” campaign..............................
51
Ward 1, day nursery in................................ . 16
description of................. ........................... 16,17
Water, city, generaluse of, b y population—
51
51
Water supply, source o f.............................. ••
supervision of, by State board of health»
51
Page.
Wedlock, child born out of. S e e Birth, child
of illegitimate.
Welfare, infant. See Infant welfare.
stations, infant. S ee Infant-welfare sta
tions.
Well-to-do section. S e e Housing: Section,
well-to-do.
O
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
@FedFRASER