View report page

Premature Babies.
The number of premature babies born in the district was 193, of
which 168 were born in hospital or nursing homes. Details as to nursing
and survival are as follows:—
The number of babies born at home—
(i) who were nursed entirely at home 19
(ii) who died during the first 24 hours
(iii) who survived at the end of one month 16
The number of those born in hospital or nursing home—
(i) who died in the first 24 hours 17
(ii) who survived at the end of one month 141
The survival rate at one month was 81%, compared with 86% in
the two previous years. The figures shown are for babies born in the
district, the majority being births to non-residents in the St. Helier
Hospital. The number of premature babies born to residents of the
area was 63, which represents nearly 6% of the total live births.
Special arrangements for the nursing of premature infants are
established at the St. Helier Hospital, where incubators are installed
in air-conditioned nurseries. Removal to hospital is effected by
ambulance fitted with an electrically heated carrier.
Unmarried Mothers and Illegitimate Children.
Illegitimate births at 38 were 9 less than in the year before and
were 4% of the total.
Welfare work in respect of unmarried mothers is carried out by
the Sutton and District Girls' Aid Association with whose worker the
Council's service works in close co-operation. The Council contributes
to the funds of the Association and invariably accepts responsibility
for the uncovered balance of cost of maintenance in Special Homes
for the unmarried mothers of the district. The arrangements include:—
Admission to the local or an affiliated shelter home before and
after the confinement, which is conducted in a convenient
hospital.
Advice on such matters as affiliation and marriage, negotiation
with the putative father.
Clinic supervision, obtaining baby clothes, help with adoption
and many other relevant matters.
The Association's moral welfare worker has supplied the following
information relating to this district in 1947:—
Unmarried mothers assisted 3
Unmarried mothers provided with special institutional
accommodation 2
Unmarried mothers with illegitimate children
assisted 2
Illegitimate babies 5
Of these, three are with their mothers and one
is adopted.
31