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
Willesden 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
This page requires JavaScript
Table No. 2.—Applications for Booking Refused.
| No beds available | 16 |
| Not resident in Willesden | 37 |
| Will not have had 12 months' residence in Willesden prior to expected date of confinement | 125 |
| Unable to pay anything | 12 |
| Sufficient home accommodation | 63 |
| Balance in respect of last confinement still owing to Council | 1 |
| Unwilling to give address | 1 |
| 255 |
7
At the beginning of the year, in view of the number of applicants for admission to the Willesden
Maternity Hospital, it became apparent that it would be necessary to further restrict the bookings.
The Council at its meeting on the 26th January, 1932, accordingly passed the following resolution
(a) That in consequence of the limited accommodation at present available at the
Maternity Hospital, it be an instruction to the Medical Officer of Health to give
preference in bookings to necessitous cases, whether medical or economic, thus temporarily
relieving the pressure on the resources of the Hospital, the bookings for which
shall not exceed 45 cases in any one month.
(b) That bookings be restricted to persons having twelve months residence in the district
prior to the expected date of the confinement.
During 1932, 255 applicants for confinement in the Willesden Maternity Hospital were unable
to be booked, either because no beds were available for the expected month of confinement, or because
the applicants did not come within the Council's Scheme. The following table gives information
as to the cases refused:—
The following Table shows the fees at which the 544 cases were booked :—
Table No . 3.
| Fee. | No. of Cases. | Fee. | No. of Cases. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £8 8s. Od | 12 | £3 0s. | 0d | 25 |
| £6 0s. Od | 7 | £2 10s. | 0d | 43 |
| £5 10s. O | 0 | £2 0s. | 0d | 47 |
| £5 0s. Od | 6 | £1 10s. | 0d | 56 |
| £4 10s. Od | 13 | £1 5s. | 0d | 58 |
| £4 0s. Od | 19 | £1 0s. | 0d | 239 |
| £3 10s. Od | 19 | |||
The average fee per case is approximately £1 18s. 5d.
Hospital Confinements.—During 1932, 543 women were confined in the Willesden Maternity
Hospital. In addition to these an approximately equal number of Willesden mothers were confined
in institutions outside Willesden, 487 births of Willesden residents being notified from such outside
institutions — 173 from Queen Charlotte's Hospital, 65 from Queen Mary's Maternity Home, Hampstead,
27 from Middlesex Hospital, 26 from St. Mary's Hospital, 21 from University College Hospital,
and smaller numbers from other hospitals; 51 from a nursing home and smaller numbers from other
nursing homes. These, together with some 200 in the Central Middlesex County Hospital, approximate
one-half of the births belonging to Willesden and show the desire of the present-day mother
for institutional confinement.
A report on the Willesden Maternity Hospital by Mr. Arnold Walker, the obstetrician, appears
later on in this report.
Frequent requests for admission to the Willesden Maternity Hospital are received from
residents in adjoining areas.
Ante Natal Work for Institutions not under the Council.—Requests are received
from the Middlesex County Council and from various London Hospitals for home visits to expectant
mothers, and special reports by the Council's Health Visitors in connection with women who are to
be confined in these Hospitals.
76 such reports were supplied to London Hospitals during the year and 37 to the Middlesex
County Council during the last four months of the year.