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 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ilford]
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50
Illegitimate Births and Deaths.—48 of the live births registered
(26 males and 22 females) were illegitimate, that is 2 2% of the births
registered.
One illegitimate child (a female) died under one year of age.
The following table shows the birth and death rates of legitimate and illegitimate infants for the past ten years:—
| Legitimate Infants | Illegitimate Infants | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 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 |
| 1954 | 2,145 | 97.8 | 40 | 18.6 | 48 | 2.2 | 1 | 28.8 |
| 1953 | 2,164 | 97.0 | 43 | 19.9 | 67 | 3.0 | 29.9 | |
| 1952 | 2,232 | 96.1 | 44 | 19.7 | 91 | 3.9 | - | - |
| 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 | 3.1 | 5 | 46.7 |
| 1945 | 2,343 | 94.5 | 73 | 31.2 | 136 | 5.5 | 8 | 58.8 |
The Chelmsford Diocesan Moral Welfare Association continued in
1954 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 Visitors 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
one trainee was allocated to Ilford for practical instruction during 1954.
Two trainees, on completing the course in 1954 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 10 full-time and 1 part-time qualified
Health Visitors and School Nurses in addition to the Superintendent
Health Visitor, and 5 Clinic Nurses. Although this shows an increase from
the beginning of the year, the health visiting staff is still well below the
approved establishment of 18.