Gunnison news-champion. [volume] (Gunnison, Colo.) 1905-1932, 1923-08-03
THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRTH
REGISTRATION

+. I.
BY J. w. Morgan. n. D.. Medical
Inspector. State Board Of Health.
The obligation Of the physician or
midwife does not cease with the mere
delivery Of tn newborn and the
after-care Of mother and child Incl
dental thereto. Unless The birth Of
every child Is promptly and properly
reported to the local registrars some
one l. guilty Of negligsnce. And "pro-
perry" means that every blank on the
certificate should be filed out or
good reason given for the omis-
sion The certificate should be filed
out so that it can be read. 1t sounds
silly, but gentle reader, just drop in
to the office Of the Vital Statistics
some time and try il
Twenty per cent Of the certificates
have no name for the child-utterly
worthless are those certificates. Ger
tainly nature has given the parents
plenty Of time in which to select q
name.
The legislature makes it obligatory
on the assessors to count the animals
born in the state, but they are not re-
quired to count the babies; but ami
mails are worth money, are babies?
How can deaths per thousand be COM
puted il the birth rate is not known?
And how is il to be computed II the
births are not registered?
The Federal Census Bureau has re-
Gently tried out our registration and
found that We are getting about 10
per cent OF the births that occur. We
have registered for the year 1921,
1866 births; If that is IS per cent
of the births that occurred in the
year 1921, then there were 26,180
births, and we missed 6,445 babies
who are not known TO the state 6,445
born of which no official notice was
taken-we do not know where they
were born or when, who their parents
were, etc.
Reasons Why the Birth Of . Child
Should be Registered:
To establish identity; to prove leg
itimacy; to show when the child has
the right to enter school; to show
when the child has q right to seek
employment under the Child Labor
Law; to establish its right to vote;
to establish the right TO inherit prop
erty; to establish the right to liabili-
ty to road duty: to qualify to hold
title TO, and to buy and sell real es-
tate; to establish the right to hold
public Office to prove their age At
which the marriage contract may 1e
entered into; TO COMPLY WITH
THE LAW.
This is the Law for the registration
of births:
Certificates of Birth To be Filed
That 1t shall be the duty of the at
tending physician or midwife to file
a certificate of birth, properly and
completely filled out. giving all the
particulars required by this act with
the local registrar of the district IN
which the birth occurred, within ten
days after the date of birth. And il
there be no attending physician OF
midwife, then il shall he the duty OF
the father or mother of the child
householder or owner Of the premises
manager or superintendent of public
or private institutions in which birth
occurred, to notify the local registrar
within ten days after the birth of the
fact of such q birth having occurred
1t shall then, in such case be the
duty of the local registrar to secure
the necessary information and sigma
lures to make a proper certificate OF
birth. IL. OF, p. Pa, Sec. ID; r. s..
'O8, Sec. 1881" -
This ID the Penalty for Nom Compli.
ance with the law:
"And any physician or midwife in
attendance upon case of confine.
ment, or any other person enlarged
with the responsibility for reporting
births in the order named in section
10 of this act, who shall neglect or re-
fuse to file a proper certificate OF
birth with the local registrar within
the time required by this act, shall
be deemed guilty of misdemeanor,
be fined not less than $500 nor more
than $50"
In connection with this interesting
article, it may be noted that the
registrar Of vital statistics, Including
both births and deaths for GunnisoT
county, is DR.. J. d. Walker Of In
Walker Drug Store. DR.. Walker has
on record the birth certificates fnn-
nished by physicians for some twenty
years, but has no way Of knowing
that these are correct or complete.
However. every parent should take oc-
casion to consult the doctors records
and see that his children are prop
erly recorded and If not, to make
affidavits to complete the record
The doctor will also file records fof
earlier years, if such are not given.
Would it not be a good thing for