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The report gives the unbiassed views of private medical men and women with a wide experience
amongst the poor and in that respect it is a most valuable document. I believe it is the
first of its kind to be published and in itself demonstrates the close co-operation and harmony
existing between the local medical practitioners on the one hand and the Public Health Department
on the other.
ABOVE STANDARD DEATHS.
In almost every area there is a number of infant births and deaths occurring in those betterclass
homes where it is reasonable to assume that the children receive every care and all requisite
medical and nursing assistance. These are called " above standard " cases and, although it is
difficult to make certain that none is included under this heading in which the attention of a
woman health officer might prove beneficial, they are not generally visited because, in the first
place, the health officer may not be welcomed and, in the second place, she can occupy her time
more profitably in visiting homes in the poorer quarters.
In 1930 the " above standard " notified births numbered 380 and the deaths 20, giving an
infantile mortality rate of 53.
The 2,146 notified births and 157 deaths not "above standard" in 1930 give an infantile
mortality rate of 73.

Maternal Mortality.
In 1930 there were six deaths of Kensington women from diseases or accidents directly
connected with child-birth, and this figure represents a death rate of 2.3 mothers per 1,000 births.
The rate for London for 1929, the last year for which figures are available, was 3.61, and for
England and Wales 4.33.
The actual causes of death were :—
Puerperal fever 6
Accidents of pregnancy and parturition —
Total 6
In 1930, there were 2,580 births in Kensington and of these 380 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 1,453 of the 2,200 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 or
the infant welfare institutions. The women who gave birth to the remaining 747 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 advice
which is now generally recognised to be of the greatest value.