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69
otherwise to give ample time to its nurture. With a second
or third child her time and energies are more fully occupied,
especially as she is usually housekeeper, cook and laundress as
well as nurse. Naturally her chief attention has to be given to
the baby, and the toddlers are apt to be somewhat overlooked.
It must be admitted, therefore, that a very great
deal more could and ought to be done to safeguard the
health of these latter children. This point can be made
clear by reviewing their needs and the actual provision made
to meet them.
General Medical Supervision.
As is well known, the majority of the residents in the
Borough arc not in a position to engage and pay for private
medical attendance for their young children, who are not
covered by he National Health Insurance Acts. The Borough
Council Welfare Centres at Cornwall Road and Thornton
Hall are nominally available for medical advice to mothers
about their children, but in practice it is probable that many
mothers arc unable to avail themselves of these facilities
because they cannot spare the time from their household
duties to attend a centre some distance from their homes.
The percentage of mothers attending the Welfare Centre
with their children is roughly in inverse ratio to their
distance from one of the Welfare Centres. The difficulty is
not so much with regard to obviously serious forms of illness,
in the case of which the parents usually contrive to obtain
medical assistance, either privately or through a free dispensary
or the Poor Law. It is apparently minor physical
defects such as may escape lay observation which are liable
to be neglected and to lead to more serious diseases later on.
The only safeguard is regular medical inspection such as can
be provided at the Welfare Centre. This might be made
more practically available to mothers by providing additional
welfare centres in the north and south wards so as to shorten
the distance to be travelled, with two or more sessions per
week so as to give a choice of day to the mother. As my
predecessor pointed out in his Annual Reports for 1927 and
1928, and as I emphasized in my report on the Old Town
Hall, there is urgent need for better accommodation for the
west ward, in substitution for Thornton Hall, as well as
additional accommodation for the south and north wards,
which are far too distant from either Cornwall Road or
Thornton Hall to be adequately served by those Centres.
Facilities for obtaining special forms of treatment.
To some extent, similar remarks apply under this heading.
For glaringly serious conditions, private medical or