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29
As a result of the conference of Metropolitan Sanitary
Authorities convened by Bermondsey Borough Council and
attended by Battersea delegates, the Council on the report of
the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee decided on a gradual
substitution of Grade A (Tuberculin Tested) milk for dried and
liquid milk hitherto supplied to necessitous expectant and nursing
mothers and children under 5 years of age. Notice was accordingly
sent to all milk retailers in the Borough that on and after the
1st April, 1926, orders for milk would only be given to milk retailers
who were prepared to supply this milk.
Ante-natal Work.
The organisation of the Ante-natal side of the Maternity and
Child Welfare Scheme only began in earnest with the appointment
in April, 1924, of a part-time Assistant Medical Officer (Miss Alice
Bloomfield, M.D., F.R.C.S.) specially skilled in the diseases of
women. Since then the work has made rapid progress, and the
attendances at the Central Out-patient Ante-natal Clinic at the
Borough Maternity Hospital have increased to such an extent as
to make it impossible for the Medical Officer to give the necessary
time to individual cases. A re-arrangement of the work was therefore
found to be imperative, and also the holding at this Centre of
an extra session, and application was accordingly made by the
Council to the Ministry of Health for sanction.* It is anticipated
that the extra session will relieve the existing pressure and afford
greater opportunity to the Medical Officer in charge for the more
efficient examination of patients.
There are subsidiary Clinics held at the Latchmere, Plough
Road and All Saints Parish Hall Centres. At these Clinics the
patients attend until the sixth and seventh months and, with the
exception of one attendance at the Central Clinic for the routine
blood test, all cases expecting admission to the Borough Maternity
Hospital for their confinement will be required to attend the Central
Clinic for their last three monthly visits.
With the exception of one fortnightly Ante-natal Clinic held
at the Women's League of Service Centre at 111 Bridge Road West,
all ante-natal cases are referred from the Voluntary Centres included
in the Council's Scheme to the Ante-natal Clinics at one or
other of the Municipal Clinics.
The increase in the number of patients admitted to the Maternity
Hospital during 1925 has, of course, given rise to an increased
attendance at the Ante-natal Centres. Every expectant mother
who applies for admission to the Borough Maternity Hospital or
for the services of the Midwife on the District Midwifery Service
is required to attend for examination by the Medical Officer at the
Ante-natal Clinic.
* This extra session was sanctioned by the Ministry early in 1926, to take
effect from 1st April, 1926.