London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1920
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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8 of the patients were primiparae (i.e., women who had not previously borne
children), and 9 multipara.
In 3 cases "instruments" had been used at the confinement, and in one case the
patient had undergone an operation in hospital two days after supposed miscarriage.
In no case was there any obvious source of infection in the house.
In the following table the cases are classified according to the manner in which the patients were attended in their confinements:—
| Confinement attended by | No. of cases of Puerperal Fever. | Total number of births notified. | No. of cases per 1000 births. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctors | 7 | 1453 | 4.8 |
| Midwives from Institutions | 1 | 790 | 1.3 |
| Private Midwives | 1 | 1181 | 0.8 |
| Medical Students | 3 | 1268 | 2.4 |
| In Hospital | 2 | — | — |
In 3 cases the mother had no skilled attention at the time of miscarriage, and doctors
were called in some hours later.
OPHTHALMIA NEONATORUM..
69 infants were notified during 1920 to be suffering from ophthalmia neonatorum.
Two of these cases were afterwards cancelled because the inflammation had started when the
infants were over three weeks of age, and also one hospital case where the mother's home was
out of the borough. The corrected number of cases was therefore 66, or 11*1 per 1,000
births.
55 of these were notified by medical practitioners, 6 by midwives, and 5 by both.
8 of the cases were regarded as grave, 27 as moderate, and 31 as slight.
3 of the cases have since died. 5 were illegitimate.
The cases are classified below according to the manner in which the mothers were attended at their confinement.
| Confinement attended by | No. of cases of Ophthalmia Neonatorum. | Total number of births notified. | No. of cases per 1000 births. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctors | 16 | 1453 | 11.0 |
| Midwives from Institutions | 16 | 790 | 20.3 |
| Private Midwives | 14 | 1181 | 11.9 |
| Medical Students | 5 | 1268 | 3.9 |
| In Hospitals and Institutions | 15 | — | — |
Every case was visited on the day of the receipt of notification. 23 cases were
removed to hospital, and 42 were treated at home, with the help of a visiting nurse in 27
cases. One case died in the institution where born within ten days of birth.
The results of treatment were as follows:—
| Complete recovery | 59 |
| Blind (but died when 10 months old) | 1 |
| Sight damaged | 1 |
| Died before recovery | 2 |
| Removed and lost trace of | 3 |