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The provisions of the Act may be briefly summarised as follows:—
Primarily, the duty of notifying a birth to the Medical Officer of Health
devolves upon the father of the child if he be resident in the house at
the time of its occurrence; secondarily, upon any person in attendance
upon the mother at the time of or within six hours after the
birth. The notice must be given by posting a prepaid letter or post
card within 36 hours after the birth or by delivery of a written
notice of the birth at the office of the Medical Officer of Health
within the same time. The local authority must supply, without
charge, addressed and stamped postcards containing the form of
notice to any medical practitioner or midwife residing or practising in
their area who applies for the same. The notification is in addition
to and not in substitution for the requirements of the Act relating to
the registration of births, and it applies to any child born after the
expiration of the 28th week of pregnancy whether alive or dead.
Liability to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings is incurred bv
any person who fails to give notice of a birth unless there is reasonable
ground to believe that notice has been duly given by some other
person.
A circular letter was accordingly despatched to the medical practitioners and
midwives practising in the Borough, and in order to facilitate the working of
the Act it was explained that there was no prohibition against the father or
other relative or member of the family using the form of notice supplied them
by the local authority, nor was there any prohibition against the medical
practitioner or midwife informing the father, or, if present within six hours of
the birth, any other relative or member of the family in attendance of her or
his duty to notify the birth, and handing to her or him a form of notice for
this purpose.
The Notification of Births Act, 1907, has been adopted in twenty of the
twenty-nine London cities and boroughs. It has not yet been adopted in
Hammersmith and Chelsea in the West; in Hackney, Shoreditch, Bethnal
Green and Stepney in the East; and in Wandsworth, Camberwell and Lewisham
in the South.
The Act was in operation during the last three quarters of the year, and
from the tables in the Quarterly Reports showing its working some facts may
be gathered as to the persons from whom the notifications were received. Of
the total notifications somewhat under one-third were received from the fathers,
and the proportion remained steady during each of the three quarters. The
number of "other persons" notifying steadily increased from about one-fourth
to one-third of the total number notified, "other persons" including relatives,
nurses, etc., present at the birth. The notifications received from professional
assistants diminished in number and those from midwives increased in a similar
proportion, the two together remaining approximately a fifth of the whole.
The doctors notified fewer births each quarter in the proportion of somewhat
over to somewhat under one-tenth of the total number.