§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware than the Report of the Registrar shows that the rate of infant mortality in the town of Dumbarton was 134.9 per 1,000 births in 1941, or 48.0 more than in 1940; and what action is being taken to put an end to this menace to the child life of Scotland?
Mr. JohnstonWhere, as in Dumbarton, the annual number of births is comparatively small, the infant mortality figures are apt to fluctuate widely. In 1940, 1941, 1942, and the first nine1418W months of 1943, the Dumbarton rates were 83, 120, 65 and 69 per 1,000 live births respectively. As regards the latter part of the Question, every possible endeavour is being made to encourage a wider use of the facilities afforded by the local maternity and child welfare clinic. These efforts, I understand, are meeting with some success.