View report page

11
Premature Infants.
In accordance with Ministry of Health Circular 20/44 special records were kept
recording premature births (i.e., birth weight 5 J lbs. or less) from which the following
figures are taken—
(i) Total number of premature births notified during 1946 which occurred—
(a) at home 108 (plus 4 still-born)
(b) in hospital 257 (plus 44 still-born)
(ii) Number of babies born at home—
(a) who were nursed entirely at home 95
(b) who died during first 24 hours 5
(c) who survived at end of first month 95
(iii) Number of babies born in hospital—
(a) who died during first 24 hours 25
(b) who survived at end of first month 188 (5 cases could not be traced
at end of month).
Special equipment has been provided by the Borough Council on loan to those
homes where a premature infant is born and where inadequate facilities are available
for nursing the infant at home or for various reasons, transfer to hospital is not
desired. The equipment includes a treasure cot, blankets, infant clothes, hot-water
bottles, thermometers, feeding pipettes, etc. Three such outfits are available, and
during 1946, these were used in respect of four premature births at home. In each
case the midwife indicated that the outfit had been most useful in helping to nurse
the infant satisfactorily at home.
Home Helps and Domestic Helps.
The number of applications and also the number of home helps available on an
intermittent basis increased during the year. In order to cope with this and also to
ensure reliability and a reasonable standard of service on the part of the Home Helps,
the Council agreed, with the approval of the Ministry of Health, to the appointment
of a temporary Home Help Organiser. The appointment, however, did not become
effective until early 1947.
During 1946 the work under these schemes increased considerably as is demonstrated
by the following figures:—
Home Help Cases (i.e. Confinements, incapacity during pregnancy and help
in households where there are children under 5 years).
No. of Cases—320. Cost to Borough Council—£2,306 6s. Od.
Domestic Help Cases (i.e., mainly aged and infirm people).
No. of Cases—23 for varying periods.
Cost, which is reclaimable from Ministry of Health—£441 17s. Od.
At the end of the year the following were on the Borough Council's Approved
List of Home and Domestic Helps available for both schemes—
5 employed on regular basis.
18 on intermittent basis.
63 whole-time and 13 part-time had been employed temporarily during the
year for individual cases.
Student Health Visitors.
At the request of the Royal College of Nursing three students attended in this
Borough during 1946 as part of their practical training in home visiting and in welfare
centre clinic duties.