Among the families that had required the services of physicians some had found that it was very difficult to get a doctor; it was universally conceded that in an emergency arising while the boats were crossing the lakes (Lake Oneida or Lake Champlain) it would be impossible to secure medical aid. Some said that it was not easy to get a doctor while on the Hudson. Most of the families agreed that on the canals doctors were fairly accessible and that the pilots were considerate in stopping the boats if anyone was ill enough to need a physician. Forty-six children in 29 families had been ill during the year of the study. Whenever possible, a sick child was left on shore. One mother who reported that her children were never very healthy said she always planned to have "a lot of medicine on board."
Fifty-eight children were reported as having been born on boats. Detailed information was secured regarding the conditions at time of the birth of the youngest child born subsequent to December 31, 1915. In most cases it was reported that the boat had docked during the mother's confinement and more frequently than not the services of a physician had been secured. One father said that his boat dropped out of the fleet when the time for his wife's confinement arrived, the boat had been delayed two days and had then been attached to another tow. Boatmen's wives who could reach New York City at the time of a childbirth were especially fortunate because of the fact that the canal terminals at Piers 5 and 6, East River, are almost directly opposite a well-equipped city hospital. One mother who had been confined there said that the doctors and nurses frequently came over to the boats to see her babies. Several women had had the care and advice of physicians both before and after confinement. While other women had not been so fortunate the reports as a whole showed more favorable confinement conditions than those found among canal families elsewhere.