[Report 1917] / Medical Officer of Health, Salop / Shropshire County Council.

  • Shropshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1917] / Medical Officer of Health, Salop / Shropshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    33/44 (page 14)
    >4 It is hoped tliat with the return of more normal conditions the whole County will be rapidly provided for. Arrangements have been made for sending emergency midwives where necessary. Details of the ic'orking of the Scheme ditying the year : — 359^ 3598 This statement shows that 95 per cent, of the births were notified in the legal manner, and that knowledge of the remaining 5 per cent, was fairly quickly obtained. Every case of failure to notify is made the occasion for careful inquiries. Lists of all notifications are sent to the Superintendent Registrars every month, so that tliey may take steps with regard to any failure to register. The Registrars supply us with the births that have been registered, but are not in our lists. In the Borough of Shrewsbury, where the Notification of Births Act has been adopted for some years, 459 notifications were received, of wliich 416 were sent in by midwives. In 1917 the visits paid by the health visitors to infants were : — 1st 2nd grd Subsequent. Total Visits. W’hole Time •• 3222 2386 1946 7250 14804 Part Time . .. 1075 S35 798 2772 5480 Total •• 4297 3221 2744 10022 20284 and visits to e.xpectant mothers numbered 1S37. On the first visit 2569 children were breast fed, 361 were artificially fed, and 103 were fed partly naturall}' and partly artificially. It is satisfactory to observe that breast feeding is becoming more universal. Child Welfare Centres.—Centres are now established at Wellington, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Oakengates, Ironbridge and W'hitchurch. There is also a small Centre working at Ellesmere, and a School for Motliers in Slirt-wsbury. The only Centres that were working in 1917 were Wellington and Bridgnorth (from 3rd February, 1917), and Oswestry (from NovernlxT 3rd, 1917). The totid number of attendances of l)abi(,'s at the Wellington Centre during the year was 1658 and Bridgnorth, 649. A comprehensive scheme dealing with medical attendance at Child Welfare Centres, medical ins])ection of Sclio(d (diildn-n, and tlie combination of health visiting and school nursing is now behjre the Committees concerned. PREVENTION AND TRlCVl'.MllNT Oh' DICNTAL CARli:S. '1 here is probably no other direction in which child welfare work is likely to be so fruitful as in the i)reventi(;n of dental caries. The rea.son fem this statement is iit the first place that dental caries affects j^ractically every individual, and vec.\’ often with serious and far reaching, detriment.'d results, atid in the second place it is imrstly preventable. Total Births as given in the Local Government Board Table, exclusive of Shrewsburv . . Notifications received from midwives ,, ,, medical practitioners ,, ,, parents or other persons Information received from health visitors Information received from registrar’s returns In addition, 155 stillbirths were notified. 2707 716 40 23 112