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5
Prevention of Infant Mortality.—Notification of
Births.—2,305 notifications of living, and 58 of stillborn
children were received under the Notification of Births
Act, 88.7 per cent, of the births registered being notified.
The notifications were received from—
Miciwives. Doctors. Lying-in Hospitals. Poor-Law Institutions. Parents.
1,222 789 I32 15 150
The appointment of two additional Health Visitors,
Miss Henry and Miss Wilcox, in May, 1916, enabled
the home visitation of infants to be more actively
undertaken, and 2,440 first visits, and 7,177 subsequent
visits were paid by your Health Visitors against a total
of 2,550 visits in 1915. The feeding of the infants was
found to be as follows :—
Breast fed 2,020
Hand and breast fed 207
Hand only 213
In addition to the visits paid by the Health Visitors,
a large amount of infant welfare work is done in the
borough by Voluntary Associations, who co-operate
closely with the Public Health Department.
To the consultations held at the various welfare
centres 746 babies were brought, and their total attendance
numbered 7,878, while 3,739 home visits were
paid by the salaried and voluntary visitors of the
Associations.
Clinics for expectant mothers were held at the
Welfare Centres of the Hammersmith School for
Mothers, at Shaftesbury Road, and the Women's League
of Service, 161, Sulgrave Road, at which 119 women
attended, and at the latter Centre dinners are provided
at a small charge for nursing and expectant mothers.
Deaths from Epidemic Diseases.—To the seven
principal epidemic diseases 104 deaths were ascribed,
or 84 below the average numbers in the preceding five