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British Lying-in Hospital. 104. There have been 193 births in this
Hospital during the year, of which 96 were males, and 97 females. Three
of the mothers died, one from flooding after induced labour at 7 months,
one from secondary hœmorrhage, and one from septicœmia after hœmorrhage.
Seven of the children died, of whom 3 were males, and 4 females.
There were eight children still-born, 4 males and 4 females.
105. Of the 193 births, only 20 belonged to St. Giles District.
These should be distributed among the sub-districts, as follows:—10 to
St. Giles South, 8 to St. Giles North, and 2 to St. George, Bloomsbury.
None of the mothers who died belonged to St. Giles: of the children
who died, two belonged to St. Giles South, one a male, the other a female.
The Infants Some. 106. The number of children received by this
institution during the year was 138. Not more than 10 or 12 are stated
to be kept in the Home at one time; and all are eventually sent out to
be nursed, on a system already explained in previous Reports. Only one
of the children belonged to St. Giles District, and that came from the
workhouse. Among the whole number, there were 16 deaths. I regret
to be obliged to state that these 16 deaths are registered in St. Giles
District, although they do not belong to us, but come from various
metropolitan parishes. The method now pursued by the Managers of
the Home is, first, to receive the children into the Home ; then, with a
view to prevent sickness, to send them to be nursed by women, at Barnet
or other suburban districts; but should the children fall ill there, and
appear likely to die, they are brought back to St. Giles, where, should
they die, they are registered. Not suspecting this system to be in operation,
I did not become acquainted with the facts until it was too late to
correct my Tables. These 16 deaths have therefore disordered my calculations
to some extent; they are, however, taken into account in the first
Table of Deaths. It is not proper that these children, when they fall
seriously ill, should be brought back from the suburban parishes to die
in St. Giles, and I hope the practice will be changed.
The Sanitary Work op the Year 1872—73.
107. Although, as we have seen, the sickness and mortality of St.
Giles District have been much less than in previous years, yet the actual
inspection has considerably increased. In the absence of a serious epidemic,
the attention of the Inspectors has not been distracted by a
variety of urgent occupations of an incidental nature; and they have
had more time to give to the execution of the routine duties of house
inspection, the strict fulfilment of which constitutes the best safeguard
against the attacks of epidemic disease. This is, in fact, the most important
duty of Sanitary Inspectors; inasmuch as it is better to prevent
disease than to modify its severity when it has unfortunately come.