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the addition of Doctors Binns, Cardale, Millea, Rome Hall and Toland
to the list of Hon. Consultants. These are especially welcome, local
interest being decidedly the most satisfactory. The Executive Committee
have now agreed to provide literature and the funds necessary to pay the
bonus on members' savings in the Maternity Club to any centre starting.
Poplar has started, but the North and South Bromley Centres think
that under the Insurance Bill such clubs will be unnecessary. The
attendances at the Consultation Days show a considerable decrease, due
(1) to the record epidemics of measles and infantile diarrhœa—the Island
Centre finding it necessary to close altogether for a time; (2) closing of
South Bromley Centre for two months, owing to the place of meeting
being closed for that period; and (3) alteration of date of consultation
day at North Bromley to meet the convenience of the Hon. Consultant.
The number of workers remains practically the same:—sixty, inclusive of
eight Hon. Consultants, five Hon. Secretaries, and forty-seven Visitors.
The number of infants visited in each centre has increased, except in the
case of the Isle of Dogs, and that shows a slight decrease only because
there were fewer births. The visits of the paid worker are shown in the
totals. The London City Mission (Grundy Street) and the nurses of St.
John Divine have ceased to co-operate with the Association. We welcome
workers from St. Stephen's and St. Saviour's Churches (Poplar). In
making any comparison between the rates of mortality Borough v. infants
visited, I wish particularly to call your attention to the fact that the rate
of mortality (105.69) given by me refers to infants born in 1910 and kept
under supervision for a year. The excessive mortality during the
diarrhoea epidemic, therefore, affects those statistics only slightly; the
real effect will be seen when the figures for 1911 are given next year.
In conclusion, I wish to again express my thanks to every one for their
hearty co-operation—the Hon. Consultants, the Visitors, the friends who
provide meeting places for our Consultation Days, the "cup that cheers"
for the mothers—trusting that their efforts will not flag, even though the
results shown are not quite so good as last year. Best thanks are also
due to Messrs. K. G. Hobday and C. F. Short for the help they so
willingly gave me in the organisation of the concert, and to the Committee
of the Charity Organisation Society for providing milk for necessitous
cases. Every case which I have referred to them has been taken up, a
quart of milk daily being allowed for four months in one case of delicate
twins. My idea of a milk fund in connection with the Association is
still—an idea!