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22
Health Visitors.
There are eight whole-time Health Visitors engaged in
Maternity and Child Welfare work, to each of whom a particular
part of the Borough is allotted for home visiting.
Under the Notification of Births Acts, early information is
received in the Health Department of births which have taken place,
and when the doctor or midwife has ceased to attend, a call is made
by the Health Visitor, who thus has an early opportunity of advising
the mother in regard to the feeding, clothing and general
management of the infant. Every encouragement is given the mother
to attend an Infant Welfare Centre. Three or four visits are paid
turing the first year of the infant's life, and afterwards, at longer
tervals, until the child reaches the age of five years.
The Health Visitors' duties also comprise visits to expectant
mothers, enquiries into cases of puerperal fever and ophthalmia
neonatorum, infant deaths, and applications under the milk assistance
scheme.
Each Health Visitor attends the Voluntary Infant Welfare Centre
in her district, and takes her turn in attending the Municipal Clinics.
The work carried out by these officers during the year is
summarised below:—
Infants under 1 year of age:—
First visits 2,851
Subsequent visits 8,375
Infants between 1 and 5 years of age:—
Total visits 11,307
Expectant mothers:—
First visits 747
Subsequent visits 319
Infant death enquiries 82
Still-birth enquiries 77
Visits to Puerperal Fever cases 15
Visits to Ophthalmia Neonatorum cases 33
Visits to Measles cases6 17
Visits to other Infectious cases 311
Miscellaneous visits 932
Ineffectual calls 4,199