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115
VIII.—MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
For the purpose of Maternity and Child Welfare work the Borough is
divided into seven districts. Six of these are allocated to the six Municipal
Health Visitors whose office is now in the new Public Health Offices, 8-14,
Laburnum Street, and one to the School for Mothers, a voluntary organization
employing two Health Visitors, that for many years has done most
excellent work in the Borough. The School for Mothers is at 28, Herbert
Street, where the Health Visitors have their office, and where Centres are
held.
Home Visiting.
Under the provisions of the Notification of Births Act, 1907, and
extending Act, 1915, all births must be notified to the Medical Officer of
Health within 36 hours. Acting upon the information thus received the
Health Visitors visit all babies born in their district as soon as the Midwife
in charge has left, which she ordinarily does when the baby is ten days old.
The number of live births notified during the year was 1,635, and the
number of still births 54. There were 77 illegitimate births. The number
of registered births was 1,674. The number of births notified and registered
are not strictly comparable as the time allowed to lapse is different under
the two acts, but the fact that the ratio of births notified to births registered
was 97.7 to 100 gives an indication that notification is being carried out in a
satisfactory manner.
It was decided to keep an exact record during the year of the number of
visits paid to children in each yearly age group.
In the table at the foot of this paragraph the results of this record are
shown in relation to the actual number of children living in the Borough in
each group as ascertained at the 1931 Census. Certain changes in population
have taken place since the Census, but this table is useful as illustrating
the fact often commented upon in these reports that the visiting of the
older children is far from satisfactory. As has been explained it is a matter
of great difficulty to arrange the Health Visitors' time tables so as to allow
sufficient time for home visiting. In the meantime it is all to the good that
the number of visits paid to children under five years of age has exceeded by
257 the corresponding figure for 1931.
It should be explained that Health Visitors' interviews with parents as
distinct from visits to the home are not included in the table that follows
and that neither are visits paid to the homes by Probationer Health Visitors.
the situation is accordingly better than it appears in the bare record of visits.
No alternative to a home visit by the Health Visitor of the district can
however be regarded as having the same value.