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60
Notification of Births Act, 1907.
The Council passed a resolution to adopt the above Act on July 28th, 1909,
and the sanction of the Local Government Board having been obtained, the Act
came into force on September 8th, 1909.
During the first year the provisions of the Act were only partially complied
with and a large percentage of the births remained unnotified.
In 1910, 852 births were registered that had not been notified, or a percentage
of 8-9. In 1911, the number of births not notified was 156, or a percentage of
1-8 of the total births registered.
The provisions of the Act were widely advertised, and copies of a portion of
the Act were sent to the doctors and midwives practising in the Borough.
In June 1910, at the request of the Public Health Committee, a letter was
sent to those doctors who were most in default, again calling their attention to the
provisions of the Act and the penalty incurred for failure to give notice of a birth.
One doctor had neglected to notify 105 births during the first half of 1910. In
the third quarter of 1910, the same doctor failed to notify 25 births in spite of the
warning issued in June, and the Public Health Committee decided to recommend
the Council to take proceedings against him. The recommendation, together with
a letter from the doctor, was considered by the Council and it was decided that
no proceedings should be taken on that occasion. On February 24th, 1912, the
same doctor forwarded a list of 56 births which he had attended from January 2nd
to February 22nd of that year. In this list, in many instances, he had omitted the
sex as well as the names of the infants.
Under the provisions of the Act it is the duty of the father of the child born
in the district, and, of any person in attendance upon the mother at the time, or
within six hours of the birth, to give notice of the birth to the Medical Officer of
Health in the manner provided by the Act, within 36 hours after the birth ; such
notification should give the necessary information of the birth, and medical
practitioners are supplied with stamped addressed postcards for the purpose. As
the doctor above referred to failed to notify within the proper time and supply the
necessary particulars and had been previously cautioned, police court proceedings
were taken and he was fined 7s. and 23s. costs on March 22nd, 1912.
8,676 live births and 244 still births were notified during the year. 4,291 of these
were notified by doctors, 4,599 by midwives, and 30 by the parents. 132 births
were registered that had not been notified.