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Maternity and Child Welfare.
In several circulars issued by the Local Government Board during
the years 1914 and 1915, the scope and intention of an organized
scheme of baby culture is set forth. The following is a summary of
that scheme:—
It is intended that the work of each local authority should be directed
along two main lines of endeavour—first, the visiting of all mothers in
fact, and, in so far as may be possible, of all mothers in expectation;
secondly, the establishment in every area of centres where the examination
of mothers, babies and children under school age should be
undertaken at regular intervals. The purpose of these visits and
examinations is stated to be in the main to give advice in general on
hygiene, and in particular on the difficulties of the individual mothers
and children. But the possibility of some sort of simple medical
treatment is held out as one of the advantages of the centres.
The medical officer of health has immediate information of the birth
of a child. From that notification radiates the health visitation as part
of the normal public health work of the district. Within two or three
days of the notification an official visitor is sent by the medical officer
of health to such homes as he judges advisable. The visitor sees the
mother and baby, gives advice on the care of the infant, takes a general
survey of the home, the cleanliness and sanitation thereof, and in
particular urges the mother to take her baby as soon as possible to the
"centre," and to consider that centre as in some sort the place for the
standardization of her infant; there she will know how it fares, if its
height, its weight, and its health are as good as may be, and there she
will receive advice on all the difficulties that occur in the upbringing of