Show More Hazardous rhan an Airmans Airman's Is the Occupation of Being a Baby lIE E most dangerous occupation THE In the world Is that of or being a bab baby said Dr Jacob Sobel Chief of ot the Division of ot Baby Daby Welfare Department Department Department Depart Depart- ment of Health New York in closing an address before the Yorkville Medical Med oled ical Society Few hazards can compare comparo com corn pare paro with It Less chance chanc to lIve a week than a man of ninety less likely to live Uve a year rear than a man of eighty less probability of surviving his first year rear than an aviator making ascensions i daily dally for a year ear has of being i alive at the end of that p period do you wonder how bow precarious an existence Is that of or a baby and how necessary It Is to forge about him ever every possible effort for the conservation of ot his health and life Dr Sobel had been describing the work done In the last few years by bythe bythe bythe the Important bureau of ot which he Is the head In this ho he showed that the death rate from rom the tho diseases that used to carry off so many babies especially itt Iii the summer time had been Vcr very much reduced but that from the so so- called congenital diseases had remained re- re about stationary for ten years years He ITIC said that 40 per cent of or all deaths I under one year of age were due to con congenital causes 75 5 per cent of ot all ll deaths during the first month of lifo life were due to these conditions more babies under one year ear of age died from congenital diseases than from those of or the respiratory and digestive organs combined It is no easy task to reach babies born annually In New York City said Dr Sobel Many rany of oC the babies who need care most never reach us because of the Indifference or neglect of ot their parents And what may astonish most people the mortality among native mothers was I higher than among those of the tenement tene tene- ment Dent population the reason being that the latter had been leen followed up by Intensive work ork for many years Summarizing the bureaus bureau's work since 1911 1011 when the work started It Dr Sobel said Infants had been observed of whom 1228 1223 or less than 1 I per cent had died lied during ob ob- ob- ob The result of all this work I Is best seen in the falling failing death rato rate as lG follows In 1902 In 1007 In 1910 In In fifteen years the Infant mortality mortal mortal- It ity rate In New York City has been more than cut in half halt In terms of ot bab baby lives lies this means that If the tho rate of 1902 1002 had prevailed in 1917 17 with Its births over more ba babies would have died than was actually actually actually actu actu- ally the case case And It Is all the moro more gratifying he added to be ablo able to point to the fact that while the reduction of Infant mortality from 1900 to 1917 was 29 20 per cent the reduction between one and two years of oC ago age was 42 per cent between two and five rive years ears of oC age 41 per cent and under five years rears of ot age 36 per cent As a corollary to the baby saving baby campaign it has been estimated that If England had devoted de the tho same attention attention at at- to child welfare during the past forty years that she is giving the subject to-day to she would have had almost two million more men in the field And what applies to England applies to all other coun countries tries |