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attention of a number of parents had to be called to their failure to
notify.
The notifications were made by parents in 283 instances, 578 by
doctors, 483 by midwives, 218 by other persons.
In addition, information is received through the County Council of
births coming to their knowledge in their work of supervising midwives,
and from Medical Officers of Health of boroughs in which there is a
maternity hospital; births occurring in such an institution would be
registered in the borough in which it is situate. Notice of 356 births
were so received. Further, the Health Society received the names of a
considerable number of women expecting to become mothers. Arrangements
are made by the visitors for the provision of suitable nurses or
for reliable women to look after the homes and family if the mother is
going into hospital.
Visiting of the families was carried out by Mrs. Watkinson, the
Council's Health Visitor, assisted by the staff of voluntary (qualified)
workers of the Health Society. Of the 1,562 notified births, 63 were
deemed to be above standard and were not visited, 1,454 families
(including 4 brought forward from the previous year) were visited, and
49 were carried forward to this year. In addition, there were 461
children whose births were registered in Westminster but not notified,
and 356 births, intimation of which came from outlying hospitals. Of
these, 743 were visited (some of these births, as mentioned earlier, have
been placed to the credit of other districts, although the mother and
child have returned to Westminster from hospital. Thus 2,197 mothers
(including still-birth cases) were visited during the year.
Visiting also took place under the auspices of the Health
Society of 1,567 children born in 1910, until they were a year old; thus
3,764 families in which there were young children were visited during
1911. At the end of the year 1,624 names of children who had not
attained the age of one year were carried forward for future visiting;
503 families had moved away from Westminster before the infant
reached that age. An analysis on the same lines as that printed in
last year's report, restricted to children born in 1910, who have been
visited throughout 1910 and 1911 has been made. Infants who have
moved from the district, or who have not attained the age of twelve
months, have been excluded from the analysis.
Subjoined are tables relating to the City, which for this purpose
is divided into two portions. They deal with 986 children and are
taken from the Report of the City of Westminster Health Society.
Tables A 1 and A 2 show the influence of housing, poverty, the
mother's work, health, and the mode of feeding, and the rate of infant
mortality and ill-health.