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of newly born infants visited by Mrs. Fisher was 320, including 125
babies born under the care of midwives and 15 born in lying-in
hospitals outside Hampstead; 73 babies were re-visited, the number
of re-visits being 129, and in addition to these, 34 re-visits were paid
to 21 infants born in 1906. Of the 320 babies born in 1907 that
were visited by Mrs. Fisher, 92 were visited within the first fortnight
after birth, 61 in the second fortnight and 136 in the second month.
Of the 289 babies visited within the first two months after birth,
253 were found to be entirely breast-fed, 24 to be partially breast-fed,
and 12 entirely hand fed ; 42 of the babies visited lived in tenements
of one room, 138 in tenements of two rooms, 96 in tenements of three
rooms, 30 in tenements of more than three rooms, while in 14 cases
the number of rooms was not ascertained.
Infant visiting was also undertaken by a body of voluntary
health visitors working in connection with the Hampstead Health
Society, and under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health.
These voluntary health workers visited 120 babies during the year.
In 13 cases the parents did not wish the visits to continue, in 10
other cases visiting was found to be unnecessary, 13 infants removed
from Hampstead, and one infant died (of bronchitis) at the age of
four months; 83 babies were under supervision at the end of the year.
In my last report reference was made to the difficulties attending
infant visiting, owing to the lack of timely intimation of the fact
of birth. This difficulty has since been removed by the Notification
of Births Act, 1907, which was adopted by the Hampstead Borough
Council on December 5th. The consent of the Local Government
Board to the Council's adoption of the Act was given on February
26th, 1908, and the Act came into operation on March 9th, 1908.
The chief provisions of the Act are contained in section 1, which is
in the following: terms:—
(1). 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 in manner provided by this
section.