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
Haringey 1969
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Haringey]
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This paper gives a summary of our work and findings during the year December 1968 - December 1969.
222 cases were seen during the year. They come to us from the following sources.
| (1) Reading about us in (i) local papers | |
| (ii) Honey magazine and then contacting Central Office | 70 |
| (2) Friends | 64 |
| (3) Other doctors, G.P.'s etc. | 43 |
| (4) Transferred from another clinic | 15 |
| (5) Home for Unmarried Mothers | 15 |
| (6) Local hospitals | 8 |
| (7) Local Authority Social Workers, etc. | 7 |
| 222 |
Points from these figures deserve comment:
(1) The importance of private information: the article in Honey magazine which the Editor wrote
after visiting the Brook Advisory Clinic was particularly important. It discussed illegitimacy
and how to avoid it, giving common-sense advice. This led a lot of girls to ask for further
information from Central Office.
(2) The importance of a happy clinic atmosphere encouraging the girls to recommend it to their
friends.
(3) During the first 7 months only 4 girls came from the nearby Home for Unmarried Mothers, despite
the fact that it is 5 minutes walk from the clinic and that we had informed the Home of our
existence. It seemed worthwhile to give a talk to the girls on contraception and tell them
about the clinic. I started doing this in September and since then more girls have come.
Age Distribution of Girls Attending
is shown below
Employment of Girls
| Office Workers (clerks, typists, etc.) | 104 |
| Students | 30 |
| Nurses | 22 |
| Teachers | 20 |
| Factory Workers | 16 |
| Hairdressers and Shopgirls | 9 |
| Schoolgirls | 8 |
| Au pairs | 2 |
| Model | 1 |
| Musician | 1 |
| Studio Manager | 1 |
| Unemployed | 8 |
| 222 |