London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1925
The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1925
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6
Notification of Births Act, 1907.— Parents are allowed a period of six weeks within
which to register the birth of a child, but the fulfilment of this duty is so frequently postponed
until the last lew days of this period that the records of the Registrars of Births do not enable
Public Health authorities to gain that early knowledge of the birth of children in their districts
which is so essential to the success of the work of Health Visitors. This disadvantage arising from
delay in birth registration has been met by the Notification of Births Act, which requires all live
births and all still births occurring after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy to be notified within
thirty-six hours to the Medical Officer of Health of the district in which they occur.
During the year, 2,846 births to Kensington mothers were registered, and of this number 2,805
or 99 per cent, have been notified in accordance with the requirements of the Act. The number of
stillbirths notified was 83.
The following table indicates the source of notification and the kinds of births notified.
| Source of Notification. | Number of Births Notified. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Still Births. | Live Births. | Total Births. | |
| Number notified by Midwives | 80 | 1,586 | 1,616 |
| „ „ Parents | 1 | 79 | 80 |
| „ ,, „ Medical Practitioners | 15 | 471 | 486 |
| ,, „ Other Persons | 21 | 864 | 385 |
| Births in the Borough | 67 | 2,600 | 2,567 |
| Notified from Institutions outside the Borough | 16 | 805 | 321 |
| Total | 83 | 2,805 | 2,888 |
The percentage (99) of births notified is the highest since the Notification of Births Act came
into operation.
| Year. | Percentage. |
|---|---|
| 1919 | 91 |
| 1920 | 90 |
| 1921 | 96 |
| 1922 | 93 |
| 1923 | 91 |
| 1924 | 94 |
| 1925 | 99 |
The importance of securing due compliance with the Notification of Births Act cannot be
over-estimated, for the information obtained constitutes the starting point of the work of Health
Visitors.
Whenever it is discovered that the birth of a child has not been notified, a communication is
addressed to the parent asking for an explanation of the failure to comply with the Notification of
Births Act and, in certain cases, a further letter is addressed to the doctor or the midwife in attendance
at the confinement. If explanations are not forthcoming or are not satisfactory, the facts are
reported to the Public Health Committee.
During the past five years proceedings have been taken against two medical men and one
parent in respect of their failure to comply with the requirements of the Act. In the case of one
doctor the Magistrates imposed a fine of 10s. and 10s. 6d. costs and in the case of the other, 20s.
and 21s. costs; the parent was fined 20s.
The action taken by the Council is undoubtedly responsible for the very high percentage of
births notified.
DEATHS.
The number of deaths registered in the Borough during the year was 2,830, but this does not
represent the true mortality among the population and, in order to obtain the corrected number
of deaths which does so represent the true mortality, it is necessary to add the deaths of
Kensington "residents" occurring beyond the district to the number registered as actually
occurring in the Borough, and to subtract from the total thus arrived at the deaths of "nonresidents"
taking place in the institutions provided in Kensington for the reception of sick or
infirm persons.