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
London County Council 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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CARE OF MOTHERS AND YOUNG CHILDREN
The main features of the Council's services for care of mothers and young children
remained as in previous years. Day-to-day administration of the services is the responsibility
of the nine divisional health committees; details are given in the reports of the divisional
medical officers. Changes in centres during the year are reported in the section on health
service premises.
Maternity and child welfare
Particulars of sessions and attendances are given in the following table:
Table (i)—
| 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ante-natal, post-natal and combined clinics: | |||||
| Number at end of year | 111 | 109 | 109 | 108 | 110 |
| Sessions per month | 797 | 793 | 787 | 803 | |
| Total attendances | 133,678 | 136,864 | 143,945 | 141,862 | 118,791 |
| Ante-natal: | |||||
| Number of women attending during the year | 28,058 | 29,387 | 32,440 | 32,809 | 31,874 |
| Post-natal: | |||||
| Number of women attending during the year | 3,524 | 3,369 | 2,859 | 2,335 | 3,822 |
| Child welfare clinics: | |||||
| Number at end of year | 179 | 179 | 178 | 174 | 173 |
| Sessions per month | 1,957 | 2,034 | 2,057 | 2,081 | 2,085 |
| Number of children born in same year who attended | 43,857 | 44,718 | 47,535 | 50,516 | 48,916 |
| Total attendances (all ages) | 758,669 | 742,095 | 768,953 | 766,837 | 713,845 |
| Attendances at special toddlers clinics (not included in above) | 38,361 | 37,533 | 38,203 | 37,790 | 40,196 |
General practitioner obstetricians—Arrangements whereby general practitioner obstetricians
are given free use of the Council's ante-natal clinics to see their patients booked for
maternity medical services continued to expand. These facilities have been available in all
divisions since 1 January 1963.
| 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendances at sessions provided by the Council: | |||||
| First | 975 | 945 | 899 | 1,034 | 1,849* |
| Total | 4,260 | 4,337 | 4,226 | 4,423 | 4,434 |
| Women referred by the Council to Family Planning Association | 705 | 741 | 641 | 595 | 641 |
In addition to the arrangements detailed above, it was agreed with the Marie Stopes
Memorial Foundation Ltd. that, as an experiment in one division of the county, the
Foundation would provide a medical officer to give family planning advice and help on
the Council's recommendation to mothers of problem families in their own homes.
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