Death stalking Stirling cradles

Measures to address the appalling death toll among Stirling’s new-borns came up at an event in the town.

The public hall hosted an exhibition and conference on maternity and child welfare.

Against a background of catastrophic losses at the front, its aim was “to take every step that can be taken to preserve the child life of the nation so that the havoc caused in the population can be replaced”.

The task facing the authorities in Stirling was outlined by the medical officer of health for the burgh, Dr Vost.

Quoting from statistics compiled the previous year, he explained that of 451 births within the burgh 16 children were born dead and no fewer that 56 died within the first the rate was 77 deaths per 1000.

The medical officer believed bad housing was responsible for the death rate among children in the Top of the Town.

He said overcrowding in houses with limited space gave rise to conditions such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and infectious diseases such as whooping cough and measles. These were the ailments principally responsible for the deaths among children aged up to five.

Dr Vost said when the civic authorities came to consider improvement work in St Mary’s Wynd they should seriously look at building larger houses.

The conference was also addressed by the Duchess of Montrose, who said 100,000 babies died every year in the UK but a large number were victims of disease and circumstances that were preventable.

Doctors had said a large proportion of the babies who died were sound and healthy but, because of the ignorance of the mother and improper feeding, frequently died during the third week of infancy.

She said they could not entirely blame the young mothers for their lack of knowledge as they had never been taught the rudiments of motherhood and parenting before marriage.

And the Duchess said the object of the campaign was to “arouse municipal authorities and the public generally to a sense of their responsibility in the matter”.

The Duchess wanted exhibitions and infant welfare centres to instruct young mothers in the care of their babies.