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Together with the fall in the number of illegitimate births in recent years there has been, as
shown in the above table, a very rapid decline in the death rate of these illegitimate children.
This decrease in the illegitimate infant death rate has been much more marked than the fall in the
infant death rate of all children. The comparison is shown very clearly in the above table.
Maternal Mortality.
In 1924 there were only five deaths of Kensington women from diseases or accidents directly
connected with child.birth, and this figure represents a death rate of 1.7 mothers per 1,000 births.
The rate for London for 1923, the last year for which figures are available, was 3.1.
The actual causes of death were:—
Accidents of Pregnancy 1
Puerperal Fever 3
Eclampsia 1
5
This return compares favourably with that for the preceding year which included 8 deaths
from accidents of pregnancy, 7 from puerperal fever, 1 from haemorrhage, and 1 from embolism.
The question of maternal mortality has received considerable attention in Kensington in the
past two years, therefore it is desirable to deal briefly with the facilities for safe confinement
provided for working class mothers additional to those which are obtainable from doctors in
private practice.
There are seven Infant Welfare Institutions in the Borough which provide expert ante.natal
examinations and advice ; and the Queen Charlotte's Hospital authorities hold a special antenatal
clinic at their Nurses' Home in Ladbroke Grove.
These ante.natal clinics are being more fully used than hitherto, but it is important to secure
a still better attendance of expectant mothers.
In 1924, there were 2,908 births in Kensington and of these 768 may be said to have occurred
in families which are regarded as " above standard " financially and do not come within the scope
of the Council's Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme. In respect of 1,199 of the 2,140 births
in families regarded as coming within the scope of the Council's scheme, the expectant mothers
received ante.natal advice at the special clinics held at the Queen Charlotte's Nurses' Home and
the Infant Welfare Centres. The women who gave birth to the remaining 941 children may have
received professional ante.natal attention from private medical men or at hospitals, but it is
probable that the majority did not secure for themselves the advantages of that skilled ante.natal
advice which is now generally recognised to be of the greatest value.
In the report for last year, there was given remarkable statistical testimony of the efficacy of
ante.natal attention, it being pointed out that not one of the 17 maternal deaths in 1923 or the 16
similar deaths in 1922 occurred amongst women who had attended the ante.natal clinics.
Similarly, not one of the five women who died in Kensington in 1924 was known to have received
professional ante.natal advice from any source. This evidence is very encouraging to those
voluntary and official workers who are engaged in urging mothers to accept the ante.natal attention
which is being offered at the Infant Welfare Institutions in the Borough.
The midwifery service in Kensington is satisfactory. The poor in North Kensington are
adequately provided for by the well.trained staff of midwives attached to the Queen Charlotte's
Hospital Nurses' Home in Ladbroke Grove. Difficult cases found by these midwives are sent
immediately to the hospital for in.patient treatment. As there is such an excellent organisation
available for the poorest women in North Kensington, the midwives engaged in private
practice in the Borough are able to deal with all the mothers who can afford the usual fees. The
private midwives are generally satisfactory, and I have no evidence that there is any unqualfied
woman in the Borough carrying on a midwifery practice.