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
Bromley 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bromley]
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| Hydrocephaly | 6 „ |
| Microcephaly | 5 „ |
| Spina bifida | 3 „ |
| Microcephaly with cerebral palsy | 3 „ |
| Hypercalcaemia | 1 „ |
| Total | 120 children |
The first group consists of a "mixed bag" of conditions, e.g.
prematurity, birth trauma and toxaemia as possible or probable
causes of damage.
Mongolism comes a close second, being universally accepted
as the largest single cause of mental defect. It is interesting to note
that in every case where a mongol was born to a young mother,
genetic advice including chromosomal studies was carried out at a
London teaching hospital.
Children taken off the Register
With the prevalence rates of severe subnormality remaining
static for the past 60 years or so, it was interesting to know the
reasons for the mentally handicapped child to leave the local
authority register.
These are summarised in the table below: —
TABLE V.
CHILDREN BORN AFTER 31.12.1960 REMOVED FROM THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED REGISTER
DURING 1966
| Left district (5 mongols. 5 subnormals, 4 severely subnormal) | 14 children |
| Found on assessment to be "dull average" | 5 „ |
| Found on assessment to have deafness as main handicap | 4 „ |
| Admitted to subnormality hospital (one mongol, one severely subnormal) | 2 „ |
| Died | 6 „ |
| Total | 31 children |
Five children found to be dull average on assessment reflect the
difficulty encountered by parents and even by professional workers
in estimating a young child's intelligence and potential. Understandably,
in every one of the five cases the mother expressed