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
Ilford 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ilford]
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50
Illegitimate Births and Deaths.—70 of the live births registered
(38 males and 32 females) were illegitimate, that is 2.9 per cent. of the births
registered.
One illegitimate child died under one year of age, from the following
cause:—
Atelectasis, aged one day.
The infant mortality rate of illegitimate children was 14.3 per 1,000
compared with the infant mortality rate of 21.2 for legitimate children.
The following table shows the birth and death rates of legitimate and illegitimate infants for the past ten years:—
| Year. | Legitimate Infants | Illegitimate Infants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Births | Percentage of Registered Births | Deaths | Rate per 1,000 Legitimate Live Births | Live Births | Percentage of Registered Births | Deaths | Rate per 1,000 Illegitimate Live Births | |
| 1951 | 2,306 | 97.1 | 49 | 21.2 | 70 | 2.9 | 1 | 14.3 |
| 1950 | 2,332 | 96.9 | 41 | 17.6 | 74 | 3.1 | 4 | 54.0 |
| 1949 | 2,567 | 97.6 | 51 | 19.9 | 63 | 2.4 | 2 | 31.7 |
| 1948 | 2,757 | 96.8 | 58 | 21.0 | 91 | 3.2 | 4 | 43.9 |
| 1947 | 3,258 | 96.7 | 78 | 23.9 | 110 | 3.3 | 4 | 36.4 |
| 1946 | 3,336 | 96.9 | 97 | 29.1 | 107 | 31 | 5 | 46.7 |
| 1945 | 2,343 | 94.5 | 73 | 31.2 | 136 | 5.5 | 8 | 58.8 |
| 1944 | 2,655 | 95.8 | 95 | 35.7 | 116 | 4.2 | 7 | 60.3 |
| 1943 | 2,532 | 96.6 | 89 | 35.2 | 89 | 3.4 | 3 | 33.7 |
| 1942 | 2,330 | 96.5 | 71 | 30.4 | 85 | 3.5 | 3 | 35.3 |
The Chelmsford Diocesan Moral Welfare Association continued in 1951
to undertake the care of the unmarried mother and her child on behalf of
the County Council and there has been direct co-operation through their
Moral Welfare Worker for this district. In addition, all cases are followed
up by the Health Visitors.
Health Visitoes and School Nurses.—The shortage of health visiting
staff continued and Clinic Nurses continued to be employed to relieve the
Health Visitors of certain duties.
The Essex County Council's Training Scheme for Health Visitors, in
conjunction with the S.E. Essex Technical College, has continued and certain
trainees have again been allocated to Ilford for practical instruction. Two
trainees, on completing the Course in 1951 and passing the examination for
the Health Visitors' Certificate of the Royal Sanitary Institute, were appointed
as Health Visitors and School Nurses here.
At the end of the year there were only 8 full-time and 1 part-time
qualified Health Visitors and School Nurses in addition to the Superintendent
Health Visitor, and 5 Clinic Nurses.
The following is a summary of the home visits made by the Health
Visitors and Clinic Nurses during 1951 as far as the Maternity and Child
Welfare work is concerned.
First visits to newly-born infants 2,393
Subsequent visits to children under 1 year of age 2,586
Subsequent visits to children over 1 year of age and under 5 9,842
Visits to expectant mothers 75
Home visits for other reasons 4,728
Total visits paid 19,624