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Dentures were fitted to 37 nursing and expectant mothers at a
total cost of £89 17s. 6d., £36 8s. 3d. being recovered in contributions
from the parents.
The Minister of Health has issued Regulations for dealing zvith
Ophthalmia Neonatorum (Inflammation of the eyes in new-born
children) and Puerperal Fever and Puerperal Pyrexia (Fever and rise
in temperature occurring after child birth).
Inflammation of the eyes in new-born children is a frequent
source of blindness or impairment of vision. The new Regulations
modify those of 1914 previously in force, under which a certified
midwife is obliged to notify to the Borough Medical Officer of Health
any case visited by him in which she has reasonable grounds for
supposing that a child is suffering from Ophthalmia Neonatorum,
unless the case has already been notified by a medical practitioner.
Medical practitioners are required to notify any cases seen by
ihem to the Borough Medical Officers of Health, who arranges with
the practitioners for such nursing or other services as are required.
Puerperal Fever is an ill-defined disease covering several forms
of illness, and is not a specific disease comparable with Scarlet Fever
or Diphtheria. By making Puerperal Pyrexia, or rise in temperature,
notifiable, the medical practitioner is required to notify to the
Borough Medical Officer of Health all cases in which a high temperature
occurs during the puerperium (period following childbirth).
The Ministry of Health state that the notification of this disease
has been far from complete, and it is hoped that these Regulations,
which are very comprehensive, will permit more effective measures
for treatment.
Pyrexia—or the High Temperature of these Regulations—is
defined as a temperature of 100'4 Fahrenheit or more, sustained
during a period of 24 hours or recurring during that period, in a
woman within 21 days after childbirth or miscarriage. The Minister
of Health consulted the Section of Obstetrics and Gynecology of
the Royal Society of Medicine in this matter, and a representative
Committee appointed by the Section submitted a report in February,
1925, upon which the new Regulations are based. It had been