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"I am aware that Sanitary Authorities have been warned
against extravagance, but expenses incurred in the preservation of
child life specially during the present war not only cannot be included
under this head, but are from a national point of view a sound financial
investment. On the other hand, Sanitary Authorities may rather
lay themselves open to a charge of extravagance by neglecting any
reasonable measure to preserve the lives of prospective mothers and
their offspring.
"I recommend, therefore, that steps be taken with a view to
appointing two additional health visitors with the usual qualifications."
This was followed, on December 14th, by a further report at
the request of the Committee, viz.: —
"As some members of the Committee expressed a desire for
more information as to why we want health visitors or what exactly
are their duties, I shall endeavour, with the aid of a few figures, to
furnish a short answer to these perfectly natural questions.
"Why do we want health visitors? Because the parents,
especially of lower middle and working classes, through no fault of
their own, are ignorant of many of the elementary rules of hygiene,
especially in matters concerning maternity and the management and
care of infants and young children. This is owing to the steady
migration from country to town during the last fifty years, with the
result that the women have largely abandoned their household
duties during early womanhood and taken to work in factories
which are the worst possible training schools for motherhood. Town
life has also had the effect of causing physical deterioration, so that
many of the mothers of the present generation are not so capable
of producing healthy offsprings as were their mothers of an older
generation.
"As a discussion of the underlying causes for this state of
affairs would lead one very far afield, I will rest content with the
above statement of the facts and show what are the consequences.
As a nation our main object in this connection is to maintain a
healthy increase of our population so that we may not be swamped