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
Islington 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington Borough]
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13
[1930
MATERNAL MORTALITY.
The scheme outlined on page 13 of the 1928 Annual Report has been pursued
this year. Exhaustive confidential enquiries have been made into every maternal
death and confidential reports have been sent to the Secretary of the Maternal
Mortality Committee, set up by the Ministry of Health. This central Committee
will later issue a report generally upon any facts and conclusions derived from the
investigations received throughout the country.
PUERPERAL FEVER AND PUERPERAL PYREXIA.
Appointment of Consultant, for Diagnostic Purposes.
The Borough Council, on a reference from the appropriate Committee, having
carefully considered a communication from the Ministry of Health calling particular
attention to the need for establishing a Consultant Service for cases of Puerperal
Fever and Puerperal Pyrexia, appointed a Consultant who could be called in, upon
application to the Medical Officer of Health, for the purposes of diagnosis where
the practitioner in charge of the case required assistance in this respect.
This service commenced as from 23rd May, 1930.
PUERPERAL FEVER.
Definition.—The Royal College of Physicians' definition of Puerperal Fever
is: Septicœmia, Pyœmia, Septic Peritonitis, Septic Metritis, and other acute septic
inflammation in the pelvis occurring as the direct result of child-birth.
Of the 36 cases coming to the knowledge of the Medical Officer of Health
during 1930, 15 were notified by Medical Practitioners. The proportion of total
cases to births was 6.3 per thousand. The notifications were 8 above the average
(28) of the preceding ten years and showed an increase of 2.3 in the proportion of
attacks to 1,000 births.
Cases of
| Tufnell. | Upper Hollo-way. | Toll-ington. | Lower Hollo-way. | Highbury. | Barns-bury. | South-East. | The Borough | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
All of the 36 cases were treated in Hospitals. 19 of these contracted the
disease in Hospital; 6 cases were removed to Metropolitan Asylums Board
Hospitals; and 30 cases were removed to the Islington Infirmary and other London
Hospitals.
Deaths.—9 deaths were registered as being due to Puerperal Fever.
PUERPERAL PYREXIA.
The Notification of Puerperal Pyrexia Regulations, 1926, made by the
Ministry of Health, which came into operation on the 1st October, 1926, resulted
in 89 cases being notified, as against 88 last year. Of these, 27 were Private
Medical Practitioners' cases; 47 occurred in Hospital, while 15 were certified
Midwives' cases. The notifications were in the proportion of 15.6 per 1,000 births.