London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Erith 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Erith]
This page requires JavaScript
B (4). Home Visits by Health Visitors.
| 1945 | Children | Special Visits | Expectant Mothers | Infant Life Protection | Total Visits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Visits | Re- Visits | Still- Births | Others | ||||
| January | 78 | 785 | 1 | 41 | 59 | 6 | 971 |
| February | 73 | 642 | — | 39 | 43 | 17 | 817 |
| March | 50 | 899 | — | 70 | 63 | 9 | 1097 |
| April | 62 | 641 | 1 | 76 | 25 | 6 | 813 |
| May | 70 | 703 | — | 51 | 27 | 4 | 855 |
| June | 58 | 644 | 1 | 34 | 45 | 9 | 792 |
| July | 62 | 547 | 1 | 31 | 40 | 9 | 691 |
| August | 63 | 621 | 1 | 35 | 46 | — | 767 |
| September | 57 | 646 | 1 | 12 | 36 | 12 | 765 |
| October | 48 | 827 | 5 | 34 | 34 | 6 | 954 |
| November | 65 | 971 | 3 | 23 | 55 | 7 | 1131 |
| December | 63 | 608 | — | 21 | 35 | 2 | 732 |
| Total Visits | 749 | 8534 | 14 | 467 | 508 | 87 | 10385 |
B (5). MATERNITY SERVICES.
B(5)a. Maternity Home—Hainault.
The Council provides a maternity home of 22 beds ,including
one isolation bed. The staff consists of a Sister-in-Charge,
a Junior Sister, a Staff Nurse midwife, two midwives and two
assistant nurses. Institutional treatment for normal cases is
Provided. Of these 267 cases were delivered by midwives and
118 by doctors with 16 cases transferred to hospital owing to
complications. The average duration of stay of these cases in
the home was 13 days.
The six ante-natal beds in the annex at Ormonde House
have not been available this year, the premises being required
for other purposes. Under the circumstances therefore the
increase in the number of institutional cases is a meritorious
performance, particularly in view of the shortage of trained
staff throughout the year.
The following table illustrates the admissions during the last nine years to the Hainault Maternity Home.
| Year | Admissions | No. of Beds |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 134 | 7 |
| 1938 | 116 | 7 |
| 1939 | 118 | 7 |
| 1940 | 118 | 7 |
| 1941 | 143 | 9 |
| 1942 | 215 | 12 |
| 1943 | 293 | 2S |
| 1944 | 330 | 28 |
| 1945 | 401 | 22 |