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two municipal midwives, two home helps and a Municipal Dental
Surgeon, and with the exception of home helps these officers were
all appointed.
In this year also, the milk scheme, which had been started as
a voluntary scheme, became entirely municipal, and the following
centres were at work: St. George's Hall, Central Hall, Princess
Club, Fulford Street, Salomon's Centre (voluntary centres);
Oxley Street, Roseberry Street, Abbeyfield Road, Trinity Road,
and the Town Hall (municipal centres). Ante-natal clinics were
held at three of the municipal centres.
The municipal Lying-in Hostel was opened at 110 Grange
Road at the end of 1919, and during 1920 there were 155 admissions.
This hostel was afterwards closed in March 1924, and, in
the meantime, the municipal midwives were rendered unnecessary
by the influx of midwives in private practice. In September
1923, Fairby Grange was opened as a convalescent home for
mothers and children. Each year showed a steady improvement
in the work, and at the same time a steady decline in the infantile
mortality rate, and in 1925 the appointment of a second wholetime
lady medical officer was sanctioned.
In 1928 the whole scheme was carefully reconsidered; the
midwifery scheme was begun towards the end of 1929, and in 1930
the Council agreed to pay the fees of obstetric consultants. The
nursing scheme, which is very largely concerned with mothers and
children, came into force in July 1929, and, in the meantime, as
from January 1st, 1930, the voluntary centre at the Princess
Club had become a municipal centre.
BIRTH RATE AND INFANTILE MORTALITY RATE.
The infantile mortality rate has shown a steady decline for a
number of years now, and certainly the work of the infant welfare
centres has played an important part in bringing about this result.
In the most well ordered society, infant deaths, which are due to
such causes as congenital malformation and prematurity, can
hardly be avoided. These deaths, however, constitute only about