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CARE OF THE UNMARRIED MOTHER AND HER BABY* The cordial working arrangements between
the Health Department and St.Agatha's Moral Welfare Hostel maintained by the Chelmsford
Diocesan Moral Welfare Association continued on the same lines as in the previous year.
Once again it is a pleasure to pay a tribute to the invaluable help which the Associations
Moral Welfare Worker has given to all unmarried mothers who have sought her aid#
During the year 12 West Ham mothers were admitted to St.Agatha,s. Of these, 7 were
admitted before the birth of the baby and 5 after the birth.
As in the previous year a grant of £100 was made from the Sunday Entertainments
Fund to this hostel.
PREMATURE INFANTS * One-hundred-and-ninety-seven premature babies (babies weighing
5½ lbs. or under) were notified during 1950, and of these 49 were born at home and 1^8 born
in hospital. Of those born at home, 6 were transferred to hospital.

Out of the total of 80 infant deaths which occurred in West Ham during the year, it
will be seen from the above table that 40 of them occurred in premature infants who died
within the first month.
The greater proportion of deaths occurring in hospital is due to the fact that the
more extreme degrees of prematurity tend to occur in abnormal confinements, which mostly
take place in hospital. It is, of course, one of the principal functions of a hospital
maternity unit to care for difficult cases which require specialised facilities that are
not available in the home; and the fact that so many are detected and admitted beforehand
can be regarded as a tribute to the efficiency of the ante-natal services.