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32
When a notification has been received we allow nine days to elapse,
so that our officers shall not in any way incommode those in attendance
on the mother. At the end of that period a complete inspection of the
house in which the birth occurred is made, and the drainage examined
by the district inspector. The lady inspector in each district takes under
her care the visiting from time to time of the infant and the instruction
of the mother when necessary, and the weighing and management of the
infant generally. The lady inspectors are assisted in this work by the
voluntary lady inspectors of the Southwark Health Society
In this way an enormous amount of interest is taken in the well-being
of the infant. There is also in the course of this work much more care
taken of the cleanliness and comfort of the home than existed formerly.
I believe this Notification of Births Act is a valuable piece of
legislation, and that it will in the future be the means of bringing
information directly to us which formerly could only be obtained in an
incomplete and roundabout way.
DEATHS of INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE.
The deaths of Infants under one year of age to 1,000 births were 131
during the year 1908.

The average number of Infantile deaths for the last sixteen years
is 170.