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54. The following is Miss Fitz Gerald's report:—
Summary of Inspections.
Visits to houses after notifications of births 1767
Re-visits 317
Visits after infant deaths 97
Visits re Zymotic Enteritis 124
Re-visits 30
Visits to depot-fed infants 904
Special visits 74
Reported to District Inspectors—
Structural defects 8
Other defects 7
Dirty interior walls 6
Overcrowding 2
Other matters 19
"Visiting the homes where births have occurred has been
carried on in 1908 under somewhat different conditions from
previous years. The Notification of Births Act was adopted
in Woolwich and came into force on March 2nd. Under this
Act it is the duty of the father, or of any person in attendance
on the mother within 6 hours of the birth of a child, to notify
the fact to the Medical Officer of Health within 36 hours.
All births registered in Woolwich Parish are visited, except
those occurring in the better class homes; and as many in the
poorer districts of Plumstead and Eltham as time will permit.
The great advantage derived from the Act is that we know
of all births within a very short time of their occurrence,
instead of, as formerly, having to wait until the lists of births
registered were received from the registrars. From that time
6 or 7 weeks had usually elapsed. Now it is possible to visit
as soon as the lying-in period is over. I consider it wholly
inadvisable to visit during that period.