Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1927
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third of the children entering school at the age of five
years suffer from physical defects of one kind or another.
Dr. Margaret Hogarth, of the Ministry of Health, examined
1,000 children of the age of three years during
1926 in various parts of the country, and found that
48.7 per cent, suffered from manifestations of rickets,
24 per cent, from dental caries and a considerable
number from enlarged tonsils, adenoids, eye and ear
defects and general debility. Dr. Hogarth was impressed
during her investigations by the high standard of
parental care and sense of responsibility compared with
15 years ago. She also found that the standard of
cleanliness was higher.
The Committee of the Voluntary Maternity and
Child Welfare Centres has now secured the services of
Dr. Lilian Butler, who has kindly volunteered to hold
a toddlers' clinic for the care of children of pre-school
age and this is being well attended. The purpose of
the clinic is to detect abnormalities or ill health in the
early stages. The work is preventive in character and
if treatment is required the children are referred to the
family doctor or to hospital.
Ante-Natal Clinics.
At 92, Greyhound Road. | |
Number of women who attended | 310 |
Number of attendances | 1242 |
At 170, Wandsworth Bridge Road. | |
Number of women who attended | 149 |
Number of attendances | 510 |
Number of ante-natal visits to homes | 1033 |
It will be seen that 1,150 babies attended for the
first time during the year and that the number of
attendances amounted to 14,878 for the year.
Notification of Births.—Under the Notification of
Births Act, 1907, 2,265 births of living children and
59 births of still-born children were notified. 332, or
14.3 per cent., were notified by doctors, 1,794, or 77.2
per cent., by midwives, and 198, or 8.5 per cent., by