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10
NOTIFICATION OF BIRTHS ACT, 1907.—This Act came
into force on the 9th March, 1908, having been adopted by the
Borough Council on December 19th, 1907. The effect of its
adoption may be seen from the accompanying table.
Year 1911 1912 1913 1914
Births notified 3,441 3,401 3,285 3,277
Percentage attended by Doctors 4.5 3.5 4.5 4.1
Percentage attended by Midwives 18.0 18.7 17.0 17.7
Still births notified 92 105 55 72
Births registered 2,676 2,579 2,494 2,558
Notifications were received of 42 sets of twins.
The percentage of births notified by parents was 7.8, by
medical men 4.1, by midwives 17.7, and by others—chiefly medical
students and lady midwifery students—was 70.4 per cent. The
mothers in this last group were all attended gratuitously in their
confinements. This means that in 1914, 1,800 Finsbury mothers,
or 2 out of every 3, were cared for during child-birth, and during
the subsequent lying-in period for no charge whatever, chiefly by
the medical students of St. Bartholomews' Hospital, University
College Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, and by the midwives
and midwifery students from the City of London Lying-in
Hospital, the Maternity Nursing Association, and the Royal
Maternity Charity.
By the provisions of the Notification of Births Act, local
Registrars are allowed to inspect the notifications received, and to
compare them with their own lists of registered births. 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.