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99
Report of the Medical Officer oj Health.
It has hitherto been difficult to ascertain the number of unmarried
mothers and illegitimate children in the Borough, as a
certain proportion of the illegitimate births occurred outside the
district. Steps have been taken to obtain monthly from the
Registrar-General particulars of all births belonging to this Borough
which occur in other districts.
132 illegitimate infants were visited, 17 were above the standard
of visiting, eight had removed before visit, one wrong address was
given, two were born in the workhouse and remained there, and
eight of those visited died. In the majority of the cases no assistance
was required, as arrangements were made by the parents for
the care of the children.
Maternity and Child Welfare Centres.
There are now seven Infant Welfare Centres in the Borough,
the seventh having been opened on October 31st, 1919, at St.
Michael's Institute, Merton Road, Southfields, to serve the Southfield
Ward of Wandsworth.
Each Centre has a medical officer and a trained superintendent.
Infants and children up to five years of age are admitted. They
are weighed at every attendance, seen by the doctor when necessary,
and reports concerning their progress are recorded. The superintendent
visits the homes of the children to see that the doctor's
instructions are carried out. No visiting by untrained workers is
allowed.
The Wandsworth Centre, 275, Garratt Lane, until the end of
October, 1919, served the three Wards of Wandsworth—Southfield,
Fairfield and Springfield. Owing to the increasing number of
attendances and the limited accommodation it was deemed
advisable to provide a separate Centre for the rapidly growing
district of Southfields.
There were 1,116 children on the register at the end of 1919,
246 were transferred to other Centres, 20 were passed on to the
London County Council on the children attaining school age; new