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84
1956 1955 1954
Admissions 702 640 640
Live Births 659 599 611
Delivered by Doctors 8 11 11
Emergencies during Labour 19 - -
Transferred to St Mary s 10 - -
Still Births 2 4 5
Infants' Deaths - - 3
Infants completely breast fed 581 509 545
Health Education and Parentcraft
The teaching of positive health is the full time occupation
of every health visitor wherever her duties take her particularly
in homes clinics, schools and to a smaller extent in a voluntary
capacity in giving evening talks and lectures to organisations
outside the health service.
Her work is more than the teaching of the prevention of disease
such as the popularising of prophylactic measures to combat ill
health. It is the day to day help and advice given to promote
mental and bodily health, the prevention of deterioration of
families and the working out of family management and difficulties.
Education for health is one of the most important of the
personal health services and is concerned with individuals of all
ages and types. It commences with advice and guidance to the
expectant mother and the mother of a new baby. It continues
through childhood until the child enters school and comes within
the purview of the school health services with routine examinations
and follow-up home visits for defects and general care. The
continuity of the pattern of her work with these groups and with
discharges from hospital, the elderly and others. does much to
extend education by practical assistance to individuals and families
when they are most in need o'f it and gives them support which
undoubtedly contributes to the establishment of individual and
community health. Social factors cannot be separated in the work
of the health visitor where family difficulties social problems
and health are so interlaced, but the health visitor, as the
general purpose family visitor, calls on the advice and help of
other services when these can be of assistance to members of the
public.
Account is taken of the different interests of mother and
other groups to satisfy inclination and desires to acquire knowledge
of health and practical methods connected with parentcraft.