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30
SECTION 22 - CARE OF MOTHERS AND YOUNG CHILDREN
(W.H. TOMS, B.M., Ch.B.(Edin.), Principal Medical Officer)
It is a matter of some interest to all members of the community to
note that the number of unmarried mothers, for whom we have been asked
to accept financial responsibility, is decreasing. In certain areas mother
and baby homes are finding it difficult to fill their vacancies.
There is no doubt that this decrease in the number of undesired
pregnancies is due to the wider knowledge of contraceptives and safer,
more acceptable techniques. Women are now able to take precautions for
themselves and have been liberated to the sexual freedom long enjoyed
by men. Despite apparently numerous examples, mainly from the world of
"pop", cinema and stage, the vast majority of women wisely prefer to
have their children inside marriage and certain liberal attitudes apparent
in contemporary society in no way affect this choice.
In 1969 there were 3,414 live births in the Borough and the illegitimacy
rate was 6%. Close liaison exists with all midwives and maternity
units in the area for the immediate notification of all births where some
form of congenital abnormality is present or is suspected. Arrangements
are made for the follow up of these cases by Health Visitors, or by
direct approach to the Paediatrician in charge of the case so that full
details can be forwarded to the Registrar General or in the case of
residents outside the Borough to the responsible Health Authority.
64 such cases were reported in 1969, details of which are given in
Appendix 10.
Dr. Joan M. Pooley, M.B., B.S., D.C.H., Senior Assistant Medical
Officer reports as follows:-
The Observation (At Risk) Register was first introduced in Redbridge
on 1st January, 1966.
Analysis of the figures during its first two years of existence
showed that too many infants were being included on the register. This
resulted in an inflated number, rather than a realistic proportion of births
as "At Risk" being observed. This preliminary artifical outcome was
being noted concurrently in many Boroughs and County Boroughs throughout
the British Isles.
Care of the
Unmarried
Mother
The Observation
Register