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69
this responsibility should be undertaken by the local authority. In
both cases the subscriptions have seriously diminished and the
Creches are therefore much handicapped in their work. A Creche
formerly existed in Brighton Road, South Croydon, but had to
be given up last year for want of funds.
Nursery Schools.
The provision of Nursery Schools, which forms part of the
new powers under the Education Act, 1918, might well be undertaken
in the first instance in the Princess Road and Mitcham
Road areas. These are the areas served by the Creches mentioned
in the previous paragraph. The provision of a Nursery School
and a Creche as quite separate institutions would, in my opinion,
be a mistake as the work is so intimately co-related. One site
should be obtained for both institutions in each district. On this
site accommodation should also be found for the Maternity and
Child Welfare Centre for the District.
Home for Unmarried Mothers and Their Children.
The following report was separately submitted to the
Committee upon this subject, consequent upon receipt of a letter
from a voluntary body who desired to undertake such work, viz.:—
" Re HOSTEL FOR UNMARRIED MOTHERS AND THEIR
INFANTS.
" I submit with this report figures showing the birth and death rates
and infant mortality of legitimate and illegitimate children for the years
1900 to 1917 inclusive. The last horizontal line of the Table gives
averages for that period of years, and it will be seen that the illegitimate
births form quite a large number each year, and that amongst those the
mortality is 2.5 times as high as in the case of legitimate children. This
condition of affairs exists throughout the whole of the country. It is well
known that the death rate amongst illegitimate children is very much
higher than that amongst those born in wedlock.
" I summarise shortly the points bearing upon the establishment of
the proposed institution:—
(1) Provision of such a home is part of the Maternity and Child Welfare
Scheme as approved by the Local Government Board.
(2) The mortality amongst illegitimate children is 2.5 times that amongst
legitimate.
(3) Unmarried mothers, in practically every case, have to work for the
maintenance of themselves and their child. The child, therefore, has
to be put out to nurse, either with a foster mother or some friend.
It is exceedingly difficult to find foster mothers, more especially now,
and in my own experience the foster mother system is not conducive
to good results.
4) Unless something is done to help unmarried women who have borne
a child and such help be given in the early period of the child's infancy,
not only does the child suffer, but in a large proportion of
cases the mother takes up an immoral life. She inevitably becomes
infected with venereal disease and is thenceforward an active focus
for the spread of these conditions. Such diseases are verv largelv
responsible for mental deficiency, insanity, and many other illnesses
which fill our big institutions. Money expended upon the retention
of unmarried mothers in a domestic form of life with their own
children should repay itself therefore many times.