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
East Ham 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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COMPARATIVE INFANT MORTALITY RATE—YEAR 1929.
| Birth-rate per 1.000 total population. | Rate per 1,000 Births. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diarrhoea and Enteritis (under 2 yrs.) | Total deaths under 1 year | ||
| England and Wales | 16.3 | 8.1 | 74 |
| 107 County Boroughs and Great Towns (including London) | 166 | 10 9 | 79 |
| 156 Smaller Towns (1921 adjusted populations, 20,000—50,000) | 16.0 | 5.9 | 69 |
| London | 15.7 | 10.7 | 70 |
| EAST HAM | 14.7 | 8.3 | 57 |
The comparative infant mortality rate for the year 1929 shows
that East Ham continues to be greatly more healthy than England
as a whole, and more healthy than London. The total number of
deaths under one year per 1,000 registered births in England and
Wales was 74, in London the figure was 70; in East Ham only
57 infants under one year of age per 1,000 births died.
Inspection of Midwives.
The Assistant Medical Officer of Maternity and Child Welfare
is also Inspector of Midwives under the Borough Council, and in
that capacity maintains a general supervision over the work of all
midwives practising in East Ham, under the requirements of the
Midwives Acts, 1902, 1918 and 1926.
52 Midwives notified their intention to practise in the
Borough during 1929. Of these, 36 worked in connection with
the Maternity Hospital and District Nurses' Home, Plaistow, and
its branches, 5 at the Sir Henry Tate Nurses' Home, Silvertown,
2 at the Kelvingrove Nursing Home, and 9 practised independently.
36 visits of inspection were made by the Inspecting Medical
Officer during the year.
By the rules of the Central Midwives' Board, midwives must
send for medical aid in certain specifically named conditions.
During the year help was obtained in 178 cases as follows:—