London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Willesden 1942

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]

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The following table shows the total attendances of Expectant and Nursing Mothers and Children under
5 years of age at the Municipal Health Centres since 1938:—

Table No. 4 .

Health Centre Attendances.
Total attendances of Expectant and Nursing Mothers and Children under 5 years of age.Attendances of Expectant Mothers at Ante-Natal Clinics only.
1938 (3 Health Centres open)158,89315,351
1939 (3 Health Centres open 8 months, 2 Health Centres open 4 months)153,81014,305
1940 (2 Health Centres open)127,78115,335
1941 (2 Health Centres open)113,86313,949
1942 (2 Health Centres open 10½ months, 3 Health Centres open 1½ months)138.18919.157

Table No . 5.—A pplications for Booking Refused.

1941.1942
No beds available76603
Not resident in Willesden2290
Unable to pay fee chargeable—1
98694

Princess Road Voluntary Centre.— The Council took over the Princess Road Voluntary Infant Welfare
Centre in Kilburn as from 1st April, 1942. Children under 5 years of age attended the Medical Consultations
at this Centre on 1,805 occasions and nursing mothers on 324 occasions during 1942.
Government Evacuation Scheme— Expectant Mothers.— The registration of expectant mothers
for evacuation during the last month of pregnancy under the Government's Evacuation Scheme was carried
out at the Health Centres in accordance with the Government plan.
MATERNITY HOSPITAL.
Bookings.—1,290 patients were booked during 1941 for confinement in the Willesden Maternity
Hospital. This is the largest number booked in any year. The fees at which these 1,290 cases were booked
varied from 6 at £15 to 367 free. The average fee per case was approximately £3 4s. ()½,d.
1,158 patients were booked during 1942, the fees varying from 27 at £15 to 339 free. The average fee
per case was approximately £3 16s. Id. Bookings had to be restricted to keep them within the limits of the
Hospital capacity.
During 1941, 98, and during 1942, 694, applicants for confinement in the Willesden Maternity Hospital
were unable to be booked for the reasons set out below :—
Hospital Confinements.—During 1941, 1,040 women were confined in the Willesden Maternity
Hospital. In addition to these, a number of Willesden mothers were confined in Institutions outside Willesden,
173 births of Willesden residents being notified from such outside Institutions—40 from Queen Charlotte's
Hospital and smaller numbers from other Hospitals, 9 from a Nursing Home and smaller numbers from other
Nursing Homes. These, together with some 147 in the Central Middlesex County Hospital, are approximately
75 per cent, of the births belonging to Willesden, and show the desire of the present-day mother for institutional
confinement.
During 1942, 1,172 women were confined in the Willesden Maternity Hospital. 290 births of Willesden
residents were notified from outside Institutions—36 from St. Mary's Hospital, 28 from Queen Charlotte's
Hospital, 24 from Middlesex Hospital, 20 from Paddington Hospital, 19 from Sunnyside Maternity Home,
Cheltenham, and smaller numbers from other hospitals, 54 from a Nursing Home and smaller numbers from
other Nursing Homes. These, together with some 374 in the Central Middlesex County Hospital, are
approximately 68 per cent, of the births belonging to Willesden.
It is to be noted that in 1942 many mothers desiring institutional confinement were unable to obtain
beds. 603 applicants for the Willesden Maternity Hospital alone had to be refused. Some of these obtained
beds in other Hospitals, some solved their difficulty by registering for evacuation in the last month of
pregnancy, and some had to be confined at home.

The following table shows the domiciliary and institutional confinements :—

Table No. 6.

Years.Domiciliary Births attended by Midwives.Domiciliary Births attended by Doctors.Births in Hospitals and Nursing Homes.Total Births notified. (Note—Notified not registered.)
19315151,1741,1102,799
19324579971,2202,674
19335327761,3572,665
19346106801,4362,726
19355895681,7062,863
19366465161,7452,907
19377604651,9063,131
19387103941,9743,078
19397032571,7892,749
19405211291,6402,290
19413401121,3171,769
19426631631,7882,614