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37
Although the average attendance of infants at the
Hammersmith Infant Welfare Centres was only 44, yet
the numbers at the Glenthorne Road and Becklow Road
Centres have on many occasions been so great as to have
rendered the Clinics inconvenient for the mothers and
very tiring for the staff. On receiving this information
the Council at once decided to secure the use of a suitable
hall in the centre of the Borough to relieve the congestion
at these Centres and to lessen the distances the mothers
have to travel. Such a Hall was found in St. Thomas's
Church, at the junction of Godolphin and Thornfield
Boads; and it is proposed to inaugurate an I.W.C. there
in May, 1937.
At all these Clinics mothers are given advice on the
upbringing of their children in good health by proper feeding,
&c., and the prevention of malnutrition and disease.
The children are seen by the Doctor when they first attend,
and as far as possible at regular intervals afterwards.
Health talks are given and attendance is encouraged for
the sake of acquiring knowledge in child welfare.
During the year a Health Week was held and lectures
were given on subjects of interest to mothers. Much
appreciation was expressed by those who attended the
lectures.
In North Hammersmith the infants are fairly well
nourished, but many are markedly anæmic. Rickets
occurs rarely, and when it does so it is mild in type. This
is probably due to the far greater possibility of obtaining
sunlight in the north than in the south. The provision of
free or very cheap cod-liver oil no doubt is of great assistance
in this respect. The chief problem is that of the
very high rents and the resultant insufficiency of money
left for food.
In north-east Hammersmith, more especially in the
Latymer Road area, bad housing, lack of air and sun
coupled with ignorance and prejudice, are the chief difficulties
to be overcome. This probably accounts for the