[Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Swinton & Pendlebury Borough.

  • Swinton and Pendlebury (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Swinton & Pendlebury Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    paid is the constitution of the population. If it be a population which is thoroughly conscious of its obligations a large number of visits can be paid which when tabulated may give the impression of much useful energy, but in reality are superfluous to a great extent. If, on the other hand, the population be that with a history of parental neglect, ignorance, and viciousness, a few visits often entail much labour, resourcefulness, and patience, and are productive of greater benefit, physical and educational, than the mass of easy visits of the type above indicated. It has been the habit, and is the habit here, to take stock carefully of all the circumstances surrounding the birth and rearing of children, and I am convinced that the one prolonged visit is of much greater value than the several visits which mean no more than the obtaining of informa¬ tion necessary for record-keeping. It has been the habit in years past to present the findings of the Health Visitors in tabular form, and for the purposes of comparison of a year in which dual improvement is in evidence—i.e., lower death-rate and improving birth-rate,—with former years, these tables are again presented, and are supplemented by the additional information subjoined which was obtained concerning 509 of the births. ] st. 145 BIRTHS. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7 th. 99 84 52 37 20 16 Over 8th. 9th. 10th. 10th. 25 16 6 9 The mothers who gave birth to these 509 children had previously had 159 children who were already dead and 39 still-births. The more favour¬ able history associated with the births as a whole than that associated with infant deaths and still-births is to be noted. The age of mothers at the births of the 509 infants and at marriage was :— Under 20. 20—25. 25—30. 30—35. 35—40. Over 40. At birth. 1*3% 21*9% At marriage.. 13 -1% 61*1% 29*6% 24*3% 19*05% 5*3% 16-1% 6-09% 0-5% — 93 mothers were occupied during pregnancy on work other than * / home work. 14 per cent, of the fathers were irregularly employed or were without employment. 17 per cent, of the babies were subnormal in weight at birth. Nearly three-fourths of all infants were not provided with separate sleeping accommodation.