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42
MORTALITY OF CHILDHOOD.
Health Visiting.
Since the fourth quarter of 1905 copies of the entries in the Registers of Births have been
received weekly from the Registrars, and from that time the Department has undertaken the
visiting of the mothers of new-born children with a view to tendering advice as to the rearing
of their children. Registration of a birth can be effected at any date within six weeks of the
birth, and usually the interval is something over a month. Since 1905 the Medical Officer
of Health of the County has obtained weeklv returns from the midwives of births attended bv
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them, and has distributed the births to the Borough Medical Officers of Health.* The intervals
which elapse under the latter arrangement between the birth and the receipt of the
information are (a) for births in private houses, two weeks; and (b) for those in hospitals, one
month. A child's prospects of surviving the first year of life are verv materially affected by
the treatment which it receives during the earliest weeks of life. Hence the importance of
early advice being afforded to the mothers. The visitor's first call should not be delayed
later than the end of the second week, at which time the midwife (usually the only attendant
in the cases most requiring attention) will have ceased her attendance on the mother.
Until last October health visiting was principally carried out by the student inspectors
working under the direct supervision of the Women Inspectors. During the last three months
of 1907 the Paddington Health Societv has actively assisted the Department in this work.
Through the Society the co-operation of the district visitors of five of the (ecclesiastical)
parishes has been obtained, and the Society has appointed a paid Health Visitor,† Up to the
close of the year 137 births had been referred to the District Visitors and 140 to the Health
Visitor. The enquiries to be made and the advice given by those ladies have been prescribed
by the Medical Officer of Health, who has had opportunities of addressing them on two or
three occasions.
During the past year the Department (Women Inspectors and Students) has visited 1,255
infants (253 being first borns), including 343 reported by the Medical Officer of Health of the
County. The intervals which elapsed between the births and the visits are given below.
Less than 1 month 201 Between 1 and 2 months 444
Less than 14 days 65 ,,2 and 3 „ 349
Between 2-3 weeks 92 „ 3 and 6 „ 236
„ 3-4 „ 44 „ 6 and 9 „ 25
Only some 16 per cent, of all the visits were made within the period given as likely to
produce the best results, but more than half of the children were visited within two months of
birth.
From the information collected it appears that more than three quarters of the infants
were breast-fed at the date of the first visit. It would be interesting and instructive to know
how long that form of feeding was carried on, but the staff is insufficient to enable sufficient
* Four hundred and eighty-nine (489) births were so reported during 1907, 10 of the addresses given not being
in the Borough. Thirty-one (31) families had removed when the first call was made, and 12 were unknown at the
addresses given.
† The distribution of Health Visiting at the close of the year was —
St. James; St. Luke, Kilburn; Christ Church, Harrow Road;
District Visitors St. Mary; St. Peter; , Emmanuel ; St. Andrew's; St. John,
St. Stephen. Socity's Visitor Kensal Green; St. Jude; St. Paul;
St. Saviour; St. Simon.
Women Inspectors (Students) Rest of Borough.