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10. Midwife, 12s. 6d. Neighbour nurse, 7s. 6d. Food for
mother and redeeming baby's clothes, 10s. When the baby was
born, all the mother had ready was two cotton shirts. The rest
of the baby's clothes had been pawned for 2s.
11. Neighbour nurse, 10s. Back rent, 12s. 6d.
The maternity benefit enabled many mothers, who used to get
hospital students to attend to them, now to engage a qualified
midwife.
Dinner Centres.—There are two dinner centres in the
Borough, both conducted by voluntary agencies. One is at 26,
Cumming Street, and provides dinners for mothers of babies under
nine months as long as they breast feed their infants. It was
founded by the League of Service in 1910. In 1913, this centre gave
dinners to 73 Finsbury mothers; of these, 11 paid twopence for
each dinner, 24 paid a penny for each dinner, and 38 were fed
free.
The other centre is at 36, King Square, and is controlled by
the League of Liberal Christianity. In 1913, the total number of
Finsbury mothers who attended was 77; of these, 15 paid twopence
for each dinner, 19' paid a penny for each dinner, and 33
were fed free. At King Square, 4,369 dinners were served
during the year. Mothers ceased to attend on removal, on the
weaning or death of the baby, or by reason of the difficulty of
leaving young children at home without proper supervision. The
expenditure incurred was £78. The payments made by the
mothers amounted to £11.
The influence of the dinner centres extends beyond the mere
feeding. There is a marked improvement in the personal and
domestic cleanliness of the mothers. They feel better, and begin
to tidy up their rooms. The elation of good food induces them
to scrub the floors, to wash the tables, and clean the sheets and
bedding. They have more and better breast milk, and the baby
puts on flesh and becomes contented.