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expectant and nursing mothers the quantities allowed are at
the discretion of the medical officer certifying.
As was to be expected, the administration of the Milk
Order threw much additional work on the staff of the Health
Department. The total quantity of milk—dried and freshsupplied
under the order was 77,578 lbs. of dried milk and
5,323½ pints of fresh milk, of which 15,588 lbs. of dried milk
and the whole of the fresh milk were supplied to necessitous
cases at an approximate cost of ,£3,330. The estimated.
expenditure for the year was £350 (necessitous cases) for milk
free of cost, or at reduced rates.
Much time and care have been devoted to the administration
of this most useful Order by the Borough Council, the
value of which cannot be measured in terms of money. It is
to be hoped that this most recent administrative measure will
be continued by the Central Authority, and that financial
considerations will not be permitted to interfere with one of
the most valuable measures in connection with maternity and
child welfare work which the Ministry of Health have yet
sanctioned.
The total number of necessitous mothers and children
receiving milk under the provisions of the Orders during 1920
was 1,473.
Ante Natal Work.
The work carried out under this heading shows a distinct
advance on that of the previous year. During the year
there were 203 attendances of expectant mothers at AnteNatal
Clinics (Municipal Clinics, 191; Voluntary Clinics, 12).
The number of cases recorded in the books of the Municipal
Clinics was 79. Of these 55 were sent in by the Council's
Health Visitors, 12 were referred by local midwives, and 12
attended of their own accord.
Fifteen cases were referred to hospital for more extended
examination or appropriate treatment.
Special attention is being directed towards this highly
important feature of the Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme.
Arrangements are being made to provide at the Borough
Maternity Hospital a well-equipped Ante-Natal Centre, which
will include provision for special cases referred from the
various Centres in the Council's Scheme. There will be wards
available for in-patients, as well as an out-patient department.
It is expected that these arrangements will be completed early
in 1921.
The Mother-Craft Classes at the Centres continue to be
largely attended, and the earlier pioneer efforts in this direction
are now bearing fruit. The educational value of the classes