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
West Ham 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
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Table IV. Records of medical aid.
| No. of midwives cases. | No. of records sent. | Records per 100 eases. | No. of applications for payment. | Application per 100 cases. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,153 | 628 | 29.2 | 510 | 23.7 |
Iuspection of midwives. Routine supervision and inspection
of the homes and work of the midwives is carried out by the senior
assistant medical officer for maternity and child welfare, who is
also the supervisor of midwives. No disciplinary action was
necessary in this connection during- 1937.
Nursing in the home. The Council has no arrangement for
the provision of district nurses other than midwives to undertake
nursing in the homes. District nursing is carried out by nurses
attached to several nursing associations working from homes in
or adjacent to this area, viz. Plaistow District Nurses' Homes,
The Silvertown and North Woolwich District Nursing Association,
and the Essex County Nursing Association.
Table V.
Infectious diseases in mothers and infants.
| Puerperal fever. | Puerperal pyrexia. | Ophthal- mia neonatorum. | Pemphigus neonatorum. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases notified | 4 | 75* | 10 | — |
| Number of cases removed | — | 73 | 9 | — |
| Number of cases who died | — | 2 | 1 | — |
| Number occurring in doctors' practice | 2 | 8 | — | - |
| Number occurring in midwives' practice | — | 38 | 5 | - |
| Number occurring in institutions | 2 | 29 | 5 | - |
| Number nursed in hospital | 4 | 55 | 5 | — |
* 23 of these 75 patients were women who were not ordinarily resident in
West Ham.
219