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lying-in for no charge whatever, chiefly by the medical students of
the various hospitals. This gratuitous treatment is so much appreciated,
that mothers poor, and occasionally even the moderately
well-to-do, living in the outlying districts 10 or 15 miles away, have
been known to move their home temporarily into Finsbury so as to
be attended in child-birth (without payment) by the students.
One expectant mother, the wife of a "jockey," resident near
Paris, is stated to have come to Finsbury from France for this
purpose.
The institutions whose students learn their midwifery in the district
are: —
1. St. Bartholomew's Hospital; West Smithfield.
2. The Royal Free Hospital, Gray's Inn Road.
3. The City of London Lying-in Hospital, City Road,
4. The Maternity Nursing Association, 63, Myddelton Square.
5. The Royal Maternity Charity, 31, Finsbury Square.
Dinners are provided for expectant and suckling mothers, at a
nominal charge, or, in special cases, free of charge, by
1. Mrs. Lamond, The Home of Service, King Square.
2. Mrs. Dr. Willey, 26, Cumming Street.
By the provisions of the Notifications of Births Act, local
Registrars are allowed to inspect the notifications received, and to
compare them with their own lists of births registered. By this
means it is possible to trace those parents who have not sent information
to the Public Health Office. To these a printed form is
sent drawing attention to the omission and asking that the notice
shall be sent. This has always been effective.
The number of notices of omission sent out to parents have been
in 1908, 277; in 1909, 181; in 1910, 196; and in 1911, 189 letters.
HEALTH VISITATION.—The visitation of infant births was
begun in Finsbury in 1909. The methods adopted and the scope
of the work done, have been fully described in the Annual Reports
for 1909 and 1910.