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In the following year the Council entered into an arrangement with the
L.C.C. for the use of that Authority's Ante- and Post-Natal Clinics at St. Giles'
and Dulwich Hospitals for the medical examination, including dental treatment,
and the supervision of pregnant women who had arranged to be confined in their
own homes either by a private medical practitioner or a practising midwife. At
these hospitals special facilities existed for X-ray examinations and observation
ante-natal beds were also available.
This arrangement was additional to the facilities provided for ante- and
post-natal supervision at the Municipal Clinic, 140 Camberwell Road and at the
Bird-in-Bush Voluntary Association Clinic in the Old Kent Road. The Clinic at
Camberwell Road was, however, discontinued in 1938 in view of the provisions of
the L.C.C. Domiciliary Midwifery Service and the Ante-natal Services Scheme at
the two local hospitals.
The year 1935 saw the launching of a social service of inestimable benefit to
mothers, particularly the poorer working-class mothers, as it offered the prospect
of a longer convalescence after childbirth without any anxieties as to whether her
family and the household duties were being neglected during her lying-in.
This Scheme, accurately described as the "Home Helps Service" made
provision for domestic assistance at the homes of patients during pregnancy and/or
childbirth, the Municipal Help performing duties similar to those normally undertaken
by the mother, viz., general home management including cooking, marketing,
washing and the care of the children.
The supply of meals to expectant and nursing mothers was also a service
initiated by the Council in 1935, and in the same year the Union of Girls' Schools
Authorities gave notice of their intention to close the Infant Welfare Centre at
24 Mayward House, and to discontinue Maternity and Child Welfare Services in
that part of the North-western Division of the Borough which the Centre in Benhill
Road served as a pivotal point. The Council therefore decided to enter into a
tenancy agreement with the L.C.C. for the use of the premises and the work was
continued without interruption under Municipal direction. There were then four
municipally directed centres, the remaining six being conducted by Voluntary
Associations supported by grants made by the Council.
The year 1936 will stand out prominently as the year in which the Council
established "Toddlers" Clinics at the four Municipal Infant Welfare Centres,
and approved a scheme for the treatment at the London County Council School
Treatment Centres of children under five years of age attending Infant Welfare
Centres in the Borough and recommended by Clinic Medical Officers for treatment.
The year 1937 was characterised by the Council taking steps to improve the
unsatisfactory nature of the accommodation at the Municipal Centres.
Negotiations were entered into with the owners of the Dulwich Infant
Welfare Centre premises for the sale of the building to the Council with a view to
its demolition and the subsequent erection of an up-to-date Municipal Centre on
the site.
In the northern area of the Borough the Council decided to acquire from
the London County Council the cleared site of certain properties dealt with under
the Housing Act for the purpose of erecting an Infant Welfare Centre on part of
the land to replace an existing Voluntary Centre in Kempshead Road.
The erection of a London County Council Estate in Sumner Road, Peckham,
offered an opportunity to the Council of obtaining suitable accommodation in
the Basingstoke House block of flats for an Infant Welfare Centre to serve the needs
of that part of the Borough, and in the following year the Centre was opened.
Arrangements were also made in the same year for children under five years
of age to receive sunlight and massage treatment at St. Giles' Hospital and at the
British Red Cross Society Clinic, Peckham Rye.