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Mortality Among Wards of the State
Children abandoned in the hôpitaux de Paris by their parents immediately after birth are turned over to the Assistance publique parisienne. Most of these children are illegitimate. The administration of the Assistance publique distributes them throughout the various departments of France, placing them in the hands of women who use, in some instances, breast feeding but more commonly artificial feeding. A periodic supervision is exercised over these nurses by the regional physicians appointed for this purpose. In spite of this supervision, which is likely to be somewhat superficial, the mortality of these children, particularly from gastro-enteritis, has been high, exceeding 60 per cent. The medical supervision was improved, with the result that the mortality was reduced to between 30 and 40 per cent. In 1920, centres d'élevage, or child-raising centers, were established. That is to say, the children were concentrated in villages, in which
PARIS. JAMA. 1932;98(18):1578-1580. doi:10.1001/jama.1932.02730440058019