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serious ill-health and handicapping.
Maternal Death Rate.
In the earlier years of this century, the
maternal death rate was about four to five, that is to
say, for every thousand births, four or five women lost
their lives in performing this primary function - a duty
to the Nation which is normal and natural and which should
be free from danger. Last year only one maternal death
occurred amongst Kensington mothers and this gives a
maternal death rate of 0.5. This record for Kensington is
an outstanding one, but even one death is too many.
The reduction of the maternal death rate
represents not only a saving of the lives of a number of
young women at the height of their value to the State, the
home and the family, but it reflects a great reduction
in the amount of permanent invalidity associated with child
bearing in a number of other women.
General Observations.
The war in Europe has come to an end and we have
so far escaped those devastating epidemics of disease
(particularly typhoid and typhus fevers) so much feared
several years ago when we thought over the problems of the
Nation's food supply, the long hours of work performed by
the people under difficult conditions in factories, etc., the
crowded night life in shelters, the dangers to health arising
from the bombing of houses, sewers and water, m???ins. The
Council have laboured with great determination to surmount
the problems with which they have been faced during the war
and. although the results of successful preventive work may
be described as negative in that there is no positive
evidence that worse would have happened if the preventive
work had not been done, we can at least be grateful that
we have escaped so many perils.
We must not, however, become complacent and
think there are no problems ahead. it would be wrong on my
part to call attention, as I have, to pleasing features
without mentioning others which are not so happy to contemplate.
Housing.
This report contains no survey of the housing
position. Indeed, any survey made with the short staff
available and with the constantly changing conditions due
to enemy action, would be incomplete and possibly misleading.
All available members of the staff have been
busy in the war years in making good the ravages of
bombing, rather than in preparing statistics. It must,
however, be obvious that the problem facing the Council today
is greater than that which presented itself after the
last war.