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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4. To visit and report upon all cases of puerperal fever.
5. To investigate applications under the Council's Scheme for the supply of milk and
meals free or below cost price.
These officers also attend at the Infant Welfare Centres in their respective areas on doctors'
consultation days in order to assist in the work and to co-ordinate their efforts with those of the
voluntary and salaried workers attached to these institutions.
The work performed by the Women Health Officers in 1925 in regard to Maternity and Child Welfare is summarised in the following table:—
| Description of Work. | Health Officers. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | No. 5 | No 6. | No. 7. | Total. | |
| Visits to Infants under the age of 21 days. (First Visits) | 5 | 329 | 362 | 290 | 281 | 308 | 295 | 1,870 |
| Re-visits to Infants under the age of 12 months | 54 | 813 | 631 | 772 | 1,094 | 461 | 883 | 4,708 |
| Visits to Children between 1 and 5 years | 440 | 1,227 | 1,128 | 1,328 | 1,062 | 1,037 | 701 | 6,923 |
| Still-birth Enquiries | - | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 36 |
| Visits to Ophthalmia Cases | — | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | — | 3 | 18 |
| Return Visits to Ophthalmia Cases | — | 6 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 55 |
| Visits to Measles Cases | 43 | 80 | 129 | 129 | 17 | 30 | 106 | 534 |
| Visits to Whooping Cough Cases | 26 | 21 | 36 | 23 | 5 | 9 | 37 | 157 |
| Visits to Puerperal Fever Cases | - | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Visits to Enteritis Cases | - | 11 | 58 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 126 |
| Infantile Death Enquiries | 15 | 30 | 21 | 16 | 23 | 18 | 51 | 174 |
| Investigations re Milk Applications | 33 | 35 | 109 | 81 | 15 | 100 | 152 | 525 |
| Ante-natal Visits | 59 | 21 | 53 | 25 | 71 | 66 | 98 | 393 |
| Half days at Welfare Centres | 9 | 102 | 153 | 146 | 138 | 110 | 136 | 794 |
| Special Visits | 1,122 | 255 | 235 | 205 | 298 | 243 | 212 | 2,569 |
The visiting in connection with tuberculosis and factories and workshops is dealt with in the
sections of this report dealing with those subjects, and a complete record of the work performed
by each Woman Health Officer during the year appears in Table V. of the Appendix.
INFANT WELFARE CENTRES
There are seven Voluntary Infant Welfare Centres in Kensington, and the Borough has been
mapped out into a similar number of areas with one Centre in each, an attempt having been made
to place each home in the area of that Centre most accessible to the mother.
These institutions are mainly supported by (1) voluntary contributions, (2) grants from the
Ministry of Health, and (3} grants from the Borough Council. The medical and nursing staffs
are engaged by the Voluntary Committees. A Woman Health Officer is attached to each Welfare
Centre and, except at Campden Hill, has an office on the premises where she keeps her records
and in which she arranges home visiting work in consultation with the staff and the Voluntary
Committee.
The principal duties of a Welfare Centre are those of an educational institution—providing
advice and teaching for the mothers in the care and management of little children with a view to
maintaining them in good health.
The guidance and teaching at all Centres is both individual and collective. Individual advice
is given at the medical consultations and in the course of home visiting, collective advice being
given to mothers by simple class teaching.
When the Borough Council's scheme of Maternity and Child Welfare Work was put into
operation in 1921, the number of Infant Welfare Centres was considered adequate for the needs
of the Borough and since that year no new Centre has been established. The work carried out at
the Centres, however, has grown considerably, particularly in the area ministered to by the Kenley
Street Branch of the Bramley Road Infant Welfare Centre. This branch serves the poorest part
of the area allotted to " Bramley Road " and its work has increased to such an extent that the
establishment of a fully equipped Centre is under consideration. This portion of the Borough
generally has a high death rate amongst infants and there is no area in Kensington where there is
a greater need of skilled medical advice for the children.