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42
midwife has ceased to attend. This is done in
all cases, whether the child is born in an institution
or at home.
Every mother in the Borough has a right to
the services of a Health Visitor; and it is much
to be desired that such a wealth of knowledge
and information should be made use of more
widely. The Health Visitors give advice on the
general management of the children, and the
importance of breast feeding is stressed where
there is an infant. I am strongly of opinion that
anything which concerns the well-being of the
home is the concern of the Health Visitor and of
the Medical Officers of the Maternity and Child
Welfare Department. Mothers are encouraged to
place their children under medical supervision
either by their private doctors or at the Infant
Welfare Centres. In spite of all that is done to
promote breast-feeding, artificial feeding is increasingly
popular. It seems to be so much easier
when natural feeding becomes difficult, to buy a
tin of some much advertised infant food than to
persevere with the natural method. It is often
very difficult to persuade a mother that the line
of least resistance is frequently not the right one.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum—inflammation of the
eyes of the new-born—is a disease which does a
great deal of harm to the eyes of new-born infants,
who may contract it unless most careful precautions
are taken at the time of the confinement. When
a case of this kind is notified, the Health Visitor
calls immediately. Cases of Puerperal Pyrexia
and Fever are also notifiable by law, and here
again the Health Visitor calls to offer any advice
which may be needed by the family. When a
midwife is in charge of a case, any eye discharge
occurring in the infant must be notified by her
to her local supervising authority, which in London
is the London County Council. Such notifications
are forwarded to the Medical Officer of Health,
and are handed over to the Health Visitors for
home visitation.