Mortality in infancy and early childhood in Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales 1871 to 1970

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Abstract
The infant mortality rate in England and Wales was high until the beginning of the present century, after which it fell rapidly and steadily. It was higher in urban and industrialized areas than in rural areas. There were substantial differences in the rates in working class and middle class families, in favor of the latter. The cause of the high rate seems to have been a complex of factors of which bad sanitation and faulty feeding were the most important. In Ireland, the rate was consistently lower than the rate for England and Wales until the second decade of this century. The Scottish rate came in between. After 1920 the rate in England and Wales fell substantially below the Irish and Scottish rates and held this position until about 1960. At present all three rates have reached the level of 20 per mille and below. Breast feeding has steadily declined in the 3 countries until at present only a small proportion of mothers breast feed their infants. Simultaneously, artificial feeding based on cow's milk has become safer, more convenient and more efficient, and is within the means of all sections of the population. The maintenance of breast‐feeding is desirable in poor countries where sanitary standards are low, but efforts to encourage it have had little success.

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