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40
It is in such circumstances that the Borough
Council's Maternity and Child Welfare work, administered
with the elasticity and practical outlook which
come from local knowledge, has been developed and
flourishes with marked success. Its distinctive features
are that it is based on the positive ideal of health as
the normal and looks at disease as a thing to be
prevented, and that it seeks, so far as: it legally is
empowered, to co-ordinate and supplement existing
agencies for maternal and child welfare.
The variety and extent of the work undertaken by
the Council will be indicated by the following cursory
outline:—
(i) Mothers and children are visited in their
homes by a staff of 10 Health Visitors.
(ii) Mothers are also given advice with regard
to their own and their children's health by a
staff of part-time lady doctors at the Welfare
Centres. The Council's principal Maternity
and Child Welfare Centre* is a well-equipped
building at which, in addition to the usual
clinics for general advice with regard to
maternal and child welfare, there are also
the following special branches of work:
(iii) Special Clinic for delicate children.
(iv) Light treatment.
(v) Dental treatment, including provision of
dentures.
(vi) Orthopædic Clinic, including provision of inpatient
treatment for children requiring it.
(vii) Massage.
*(A children's consultation clinic is also conducted on hired
premises at Thornton Hall every week.)