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17
During 1909 an additional Health Visitor (Miss Peacock) was
appointed, whose ties are entirely devoted to this work. The
Notification of Birtns Act, which was adopted by the Council, and
came into force in March, 1908, rendered it necessary to appoint
an additional Health Visitor. Prior to this, part of the time of
one of the female Sanitary Inspectors (Miss Moss) was allocated
to this work. As a result much good work has been accomplished,
and the rate of progress which began with the initiation of the
Council's attempts to grapple with the problem of infant mortality
in has been maintained. The efforts of the Council have
in this cornection been assisted by the Battersea Voluntary Health
Society, and the other philanthropic Societies working in cooperation
engaged in social work in the district.
Home Office Enquiry.
In connection with the industrial employment of married
women, and its effects on infant mortality, a Conference of Medical
Officers of Health was held at the Home Office in 1907. The object
of the Conference was to arrange for the holding of a systematic
enquiry in a number of industrial centres throughout the kingdom,
to assist the Secretary of State to ascertain by means of the
information thus obtained the need for further legislation regulating
the employment of married women.
Forms were provided by the Home Office, which, after being
filled up, were to be returned.
The area selected for the enquiry in Battersea was situate
mainly in the East and North-West registration sub-districts.
The enquiry started early in 1908, and was to relate to children
born in that year, and for the first twelve months of their lives,
hence it could not be completed until the end of 1909.
One hundred and thirty births were enquired into in Battersea
in connection with this investigation, and, while the information
which was obtained was interesting, and may, when taken with the
mass of similar material obtained throughout the kingdom, prove
useful to the Home Office, the figures are too small to draw any
particular deduction therefrom.
A few of the more important points ascertained in this enquiry
are briefly summarised as follows:—
The occupations of the mothers of these 130 children were
laundresses 32, charwomen and hawkers 33, domestic servants
19, miscellaneous 33. The remaining 13 mothers did not go out
to work, but were at home engaged in domestic duties. As
regards the feeding of these 130 infants, 47 were breast fed, 58
partly breast fed, and 25 were artificially fed.