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46
of London. The local Invalid Kitchen is conducted
at Bishop Creighton House, Lillie Road, but it is
unfortunate that its distance from the southern
part of the Borough makes it impossible for it to
be of much use to the families in that area. In
this respect the northern area of the Borough has
a great advantage
Ante-Natal Clinics.
Ante-natal sessions are held at the centres at
92, Greyhound Road—two sessions weekly—and
one session per week at 170, Wandsworth Bridge
Road. The Medical Officers and the Health
Visitors of the Department urge every pregnant
mother known to them to place herself under
medical supervision during pregnancy, either at
the Infant Welfare Centres, at a hospital, or
under a private doctor. The importance of antenatal
supervision cannot be over-estimated, and if
only mothers would realise what a lot of postnatal
suffering is avoidable, they would take
greater advantage of the facilities offered.
The ante-natal clinics are primarily for supervision,
and for the prevention of abnormalities at labour.
The greatest care is taken that patients should make
arrangements for their confinement to be conducted
under suitable conditions. Close co-operation is
maintained between the clinic and outside doctors
and midwives, and written reports of the pregnancy
are sent when necessary.
All cases booked for the Maternity Home are
required to attend the Ante-natal Clinics, and one
or other member of the Maternity Home staff attends
at these sessions.
The Health Visitors also visit pregnant women
in the Borough who are booked to enter maternity
wards in hospitals. The Almoners send lists of such
cases for visitation, and by this means this Department
gets into touch with many pregnant women
who would otherwise remain unknown.