[Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Derbyshire County Council.

  • Derbyshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Derbyshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/46 (page 22)
    ().—^Arranging for ])la(;oK in a rcsidcnitial Niir.sory or Home, for l)abios whose mothc'rs cannot look aft(T thcmi and for whom accommodation cannot be found by other means. 7.—In special cases, e.g., where the mother is very yomig or is the wife of a man not the father of the child, giviiig advice about legal adoptioji. It was felt that finding employment for unmarried mothei-s was more properly the province of the Ministry of Labour, although appropriate^ advice could be given by Health Visitors. The Superintendent Health Visitor was specially asked to keep in touch with mothers of all illegitimate children in order that she might, as far as possible, safeguard the interests of these particularly vulnerable children. The following Table shows the position regarding the number and percentage of illegitimate births in the County for 1935—1944 with Infantile Death Rates for all children and illegitimate children shown separately. TABLE XIV. Year. Illegitimate Births. Percentage of Total Births. Infantile Death Rate. AU Children. lUegitimate Children. 1935 298 3.16 56.64 117.46 1936 316 3.29 58.27 66.44 1937 319 3.28 52.12 97.14 1938 332 3.28 61.10 90.36 1939 361 3.57 47.43 65.50 1940 341 3.44 56.43 76.47 1941 398 3.95 51.04 50.00 1942 431 3.91 42.24 66.28 1943 525 4.48 48.11 70.47 1944 704 5.36 42.13 55.39 During war-time there is a tendency for the illegitimate birth rate to rise, as exemplified in the above Table, which is largely due to the upheaval in failiily life and the laxity of the moral code which the excitement of war engenders. The percentage of illegitimate births in England and Wales in 1944 was 7.02. It has been found that the majorit}'^ of unmarried mothers with their children continue to reside with the mother’s parents, although a few children are placed with foster-parents and others adopted. Further detailed information has been collected and will be dealt with more fully in a subsequent report. Cleanliness of Mothers and Young Children. In 1943 the Ministry of Health issued Circulaj- J\o. 2831 on < he action to be taken by Welfare Authorities to promote cleanliness and the elimination of verminous conditiojis in mothers and young children.