London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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122
MATERNAL CARE.
Maternal care comprises ante-natal care, care at the confinement and post-natal care.
It is generally agreed that early systematic and thorough ante-natal care is the most important
of all means to be taken towards the reduction of maternal mortality.
It will be seen from the following Table VII., supplied by the Registrar-General, that
two deaths were primarily classified as due to childbirth, and that two deaths were classified as
being associated with pregnancy but not attributable thereto. The puerperal maternal
mortality rate (deaths primarily classified to childbirth per 1000 births live and still) for 1938
was accordingly 0.8.
Table VII.
Maternal Mortality in Borough of St. Pancras in 1938.
| AGES. | conditions. | WARDS | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-20 years. | 20-25 years. | 25-30 years. | 30-35 years. | 35-40 years. | 40-45 years. | 45 years and over. | Married. | Single. | Widowed. | I. | II. | III. | IV. | V. | VI. | VII. | VIII. | No Address. | |
| Puerperal haemorrhage | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| "Other accidents of childbirth" | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Associated with childbirth but not classed thereto: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Chronic malaria | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| Empyema | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Ante-Natal Care.
As the friends of many families in the Borough, the health visitors are the natural
confidants when a baby is expected. This results in a kind of informal notification of
pregnancy so far as the clientele of the Welfare Centres is concerned. Reference to
Table IV. on page 108 will show that during the year 3,628 visits were paid to 1,522
expectant mothers. From Table III., page 99, it will be seen that 1,066 expectant
mothers made 5,080 attendances to the ante-natal clinics at the various centres included in
the Council's scheme. The total number of births during the year was 2,433.
In addition to consultations held at the Centres maintained by the Borough Council
are those at the General and Women's Hospitals, both in and adjacent to the Borough. Classes
in Mothercraft are held at the various Centres, and also massage treatment for expectant
mothers.