London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Holborn 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Holborn Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
68
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
Notification of Births.
During the year 180 births were registered as occurring in the Borough. During the same period 136 notifications of births occurring in the Borough were received. Of these, 132 were from doctors and midwives, 4 from parents.
| The mothers were attended at their confinement by:— | |
| Private Doctors | 20 |
| Private Midwives | 19 |
| Out-patient Midwifery Departments of General Hospitals and Institutions:— | |
| Externs and others | 43 |
| Midwives.—University College Hospital | 2 |
| Middlesex Hospital | 10 |
| Other Institutions | 3 |
| Training Institution for Midwives, Myddelton Square | 39 |
| 136 | |
Five of these notifications related to stillbirths.
| The number of births transferred to the Borough from outlying institutions was | 175 |
| The number of births transferred from the Borough to other districts was | 13 |
| The net number of births belonging to the Borough was | 342 |
There are no maternity hospitals or public lying-in institutions in the Borough
but maternity cases are admitted to a nursing home in the area.
Births in Crowded Homes.
The following table is an indication of the home conditions of 261 mothers in relation to their confinement:—
| Living in:— | Confined at home. | Confined in hospital. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Percentage of Total Births. | No. | Percentage of Total Births. | |
| One roomed homes | 23 | 43 | ||
| Two „ „ | 79 | 60 | ||
| Three „ „ | 23 | 16 | ||
| Four or more „ | 13 | 4 | ||
| Total | 138 | 123 | ||
These figures show that many of the women are confined under very uncomfortable
and unfavourable circumstances.