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10 unmarried mothers and 5 babies, and the Santa Claus Home
20 children suffering from conditions of the hip and spine requiring
surgical supervision and nursing.
There are in addition 19 registered foster mothers living
in Hornsey.
Maternal Mortality.—Three mothers died as a result of their
confinements—the maternal mortality rate is thus 2.47 per 1,000
births. There were no deaths from puerperal sepsis. All of
these maternal deaths occurred in lying-in institutions, and none
of the mothers had attended one or other of the ante-natal
clinics.
Infantile Mortality.—The number of Homsey infants who
died under one year of age was given by the Registrar-General
as 53. Local returns made this figure 49. Premature birth
accounted for 19 of these deaths, and weakness and wasting for
ten. More than half of the deaths of infants occurred during the
first four weeks of life. It is only by encouraging mothers to
obtain medical advice during the later months of pregnancy that
we can hope further to reduce the maternal mortality rate and
deaths of infants in the first weeks of life. All deaths from
pneumonia, bronchitis, diarrhoea and whooping cough occurred
among children over four weeks of age.
Twenty-seven notifications of still births were received in the
office, 10 of which occurred outside the Borough, and all were
investigated. Twelve of the still births occurred in institutions,
and at eight of the others a doctor was in attendance.
The infantile mortality rate—43.6 per 1,000 births—is the
second lowest on record.
DISEASES OF ANIMALS ACTS.
The Veterinary Inspector under the Diseases of Animals
Acts, Mr. J. Buxton, having retired, applications were invited
for the appointment from the veterinary surgeons practising in
the Borough, and Mr. F. Buxton was appointed in November,
1925.