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
Paddington 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
27
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
Health Visitors.
These officers, two in number, work under the control of the Maternity and Child Welfare
Committee of the Council. Their duties are :—
(1) To visit the homes of all newly-born children where considered necessary.
(2) To make enquiries concerning stillbirths and deaths of infants and young children.
(3) To visit and give advice to parents in cases of ophthalmia of the new-born, infective
enteritis and other important diseases.
(4) To investigate all cases of puerperal fever and puerperal pyrexia.
The Health Visitors attend several consultations weekly at the Paddington School
for Mothers; they also attend alternately once a fortnight at the Infant Consultation
Centre at Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital.
The work performed by the Health Visitors is summarised in the appended tables, which
also show how many infants were breast-fed and other interesting information.
HEALTH VISITING.
| Births— | |
|---|---|
| First Visits | 2,036 |
| Revisits | 2,375 4,411 |
| Ante-natal— | |
| First visits | 514 |
| Revisits | 419 933 |
| OTHER VISITS. | |
| Puerperal Fever and Puerperal Pyrexia | 137 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 270 |
| Diarrhoea | 313 |
| Miscellaneous | 1,136 |
| 1,856 |
Particulars recorded as to Method of Feeding.
| Breast. | Artificial. | Mixed. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 1,411 | 115 | 88 | 1,614 |
| Percentage | 87.4 | 7.1 | 5.5 |
AGES AT FIRST VISIT.
| Method of Feeding. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast. | Artificial. | Mixed. | Totals. | ||
| Weeks | 0- | 15 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| 1- | 580 | 25 | 17 | 622 | |
| 2- | 550 | 30 | 24 | 604 | |
| 3- | 125 | 16 | 9 | 150 | |
| Months | 0- | 1,270 | 73 | 52 | 1,395 |
| 1— | 90 | 12 | 8 | 110 | |
| 2— | 30 | 10 | 8 | 48 | |
| 3 and upwards | 21 | 20 | 20 | 61 | |
DIED BEFORE END OF YEAR : 46.
Breast 33
Artificial 7
Mixed 6
CAUSES OF DEATH.
| Diarrhceal Diseases | 20 | Whooping Cough | - |
| Respiratory „ | 12 | Measles | _ |
| Atrophy, Debility | 4 | Premature Birth | 3 |
| Congenital Defects | 3 | Other Causes | 4 |
Institution Deaths 41 (Paddington Infirmary 24).