Abstract
WITH a falling birth-rate and the loss of life occasioned by the great war, the subjects of maternity and child welfare have assumed enhanced import ance, and the Chadwick Trustees were well advised to institute a series of lectures on these subjects. Needless to say, Dr. Porter has dealt with the question in an entirely satisfactory manner. In the introductory chapter attention is directed to the falling birth-rate and to the wastage of infant life that goes on. Whereas more than 1,000,000 babies should be provided every year, as a matter of fact only some 800,000 or 900,000 are forthcoming! In the next chapter the care of motherhood is considered. In the worst districts nearly nine, and in the best three or four, mothers die for every 1000 babies born, and it is important to note that maternal death-rate from child-bearing and infant mortality go hand in hand. Valuable suggestions are given for bettering this state of affairs—by the institution of maternity centres and ante-natal clinics, the circulation of instructional leaflets, etc. In the third chapter the infant and infant-mortality, and in the fourth the young child and child-mortality, are discussed at some length. In an appendix specimen leaflets relating to the matters discussed for distribution from infant consultations and, by health visitors are reproduced. A number of tables and charts are included, and Sir James Crichton-Browne contributes a characteristic foreword. The book is one which should have a large circulation, and we hope that it will be widely read.
The Future Citizen and his Mother.
Dr.
Charles
Porter
By, with a Foreword by Sir James Crichton-Browne. Pp. xvi + 144. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 3s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
H., R. The Future Citizen and his Mother . Nature 102, 424 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/102424b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102424b0