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
Hampstead 1917
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hampstead, Metropolitan Borough of]
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33
Section E.
MEANS FOR PREVENTING MORTALITY IN
CHILDREN AND IN INFANCY.
Notification of Births.
By the Notification of Births Act 1907 all births are required to
he notified to the Medical Officer of Health within 36 hours of their
occurrence. This is in addition to the usual registration with the
Registrar of Births.
In 1917, 964 births were notified, including 21 still births.
300 were notified by medical practitioners, 164 by midwives, 2 77 by
parents and 202 from other sources. In 750 cases the parents were
visited, and 537 re-visits were made.
When the mother is able to get about she is visited by a Health
Visitor employed by the Borough Council and invited to bring her
baby to one of the four Weighing Centres which are at work in the
Borough.
In June 1917 an Infant Welfare Centre was opened at the
Friends' Meeting House, Heath Street, under the auspices of the
Hampstead Council of Social Welfare. This fulfils a much needed
want in the Town Ward. A record of the work done there during
1917 is included in the table on this page. It must be borne in mind
that the figures given in relation to the Heath Street Centre only apply
to the period from June to December.
The following Table gives briefly the work done at each Centre:-
| Health Institute. | Emmanuel Hall. | Lyndhurst Hall. | Friends' Meeting House. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. Weighed | 410 | 78 | 165 | 57 | 710 |
| Total Attendances | 2699 | 598 | 1153 | 351 | 4801 |
| Average attendance | 27 | 12 | 20 | 13 | 79 |
Thus it will be seen that of the 964 births notified during 1917
710 attended the Weighings, which is undoubtedly a high percentage
of the births of the Borough, considering that such a large number of
our babies are born in well-to-do families.
In April 1917 the Council decided to inaugurate and staff an AnteNatal
Clinic for the purpose of advising and examining expectant mothers
The main object of such Clinic is to ascertain if any condition
exists prejudicial to either mother or child prior to parturition and to
combat it at the time or anticipate it at the birth.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in staffing the Clinic
satisfactorily. The Maternity Hospitals were unable to help on
account of shortage of staff. In June the Council appointed Dr. A. W.
Kirkpatrick Picard as Medical Officer in charge, with consulting rooms
at the Municipal Dispensary and at the Provident Dispensary, New End.