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15
Act on the 11th December, 1907. The Local Government Board afterwards
consented to the adoption of the Act and fixed Monday, the 9th March, 1908 as
the day on which the adoption came into operation.
The Act provides:—
"In the case of every child born in an area in which this Act is adopted it
shall be the duty of the father of the Child, if he is actually residing
in the house where the birth takes place at the time of its occurrence,
and of any person in attendance upon the mother at the time of, or
within six hours after the birth, to give notice in writing of the birth
to the Medical Officer of Health of the District in which the child
is born."
Notice is to be given by posting a prepaid letter or post-card addressed to the
Medical Officer of Health, Council Offices, 197, High Holborn, giving the necessary
information of the birth within 36 hours after the birth, or by delivering a written
notice of the birth at the Office of the Medical Officer of Health within the
same term.
The Council is to supply, without charge, addressed and stamped post-cards
containing the form of notice to any Medical Practitioner or Midwife residing or
practising in the Borough who applies for the same.
Any person who fails to give notice of a birth in accordance with the Act
will be liable to a penalty not exceeding 20s.
The notification is in addition to, and not in substitution for, the requirements
of any Act relating to the registration of births.
The Act applies to any child which has issued forth from its mother after the
expiration of the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy, whether alive or dead.
MODIFIED MILK FOR INFANTS.
In my Annual Report for 1906 I gave a detailed report respecting this
matter, pointing out the large amount of preventable illness and the enormous
sacrifice of infant life due to improper feeding, and that the provision of a Milk
Depot in Holborn would be very costly. I, therefore, arranged with the Express
Dairy Company, Limited, who have various Depots in and near the Borough to
supply modified milk for infants of the working classes for about the same charges
as at Municipal Milk Depots. The Company agreed to supply the modified milk
at the reduced rate of 4d. per day on production of a certificate from me.
These arrangements are becoming more known and more frequently used; in
fact, during the year 64 certificates were issued. The certificates, however, were