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The total number of births which took place in Bermondsey
last year was 3,842, and of these 3,777 were notified under the
Notification of Births Act, 1907.
The difficulty referred to in earlier reports of getting the whole of
the cases notified has to a large extent been overcome by the sending
out to parents and doctors the special letters mentioned in my
comments on this table for 1911. lam still of opinion that it would
have been better had the time allowed for registration been shortened
from six weeks to one, instead of having a special Act. An endeavour
is now being made to hunt up delinquents, and a letter
is being sent to the medical practitioners pointing out to them
that it is their duty to inform the father of his duty under the Act,
and that the medical man in attendance is not exempt unless he
has reason to believe that someone else has notified.
Of the 3,777 births notified, 2,653 received primary visits from
the Health Visitors. The number of secondary visits was 230. Of
this number 2,564 were breast fed, so that, with very few exceptions,
breast feeding among the working classes in Bermondsey is the
rule. This, however, only continues for a period of a month, or six
weeks at furthest, after which period working mothers here find it
necessary to supplement the meagre income by work of some description.
Their infants are then left in charge of a stranger or some
inexperienced member of the family, the result being they are
artificially fed, and the wonder is that the infantile mortality is
not much greater. It speaks well for the vitality of the infantile
population that they survive the extraordinary methods of feeding
to which some of them are subjected. Any enquiries into the
subject of breast feeding and the best methods of ensuring its
continuance will be incomplete if the economic conditions of the
mothers is not taken into account.
BABIES' CLASS.
One part of the Health Visitor's work requires special mention,
viz. : —The Babies' Class which is held in the Town Hall every
Tuesday afternoon from 2.30 to 4.30. Mothers are encouraged to
bring their children every week until they are a year old. They are
regularly weighed and if the infants fail to progress favourably
they are examined by myself and the mother advised as to suitable