View report page

18
which is so gratefully welcomed and appreciated by the public
The fathers and mothers of babies who attend the Centres are
enthusiastic over the work done there.
I have asked Dr. Flora Shepherd to give me a few notes
on her work at the Centres, and she writes as follows:—
"The aim of the Maternity and Child Welfare Work of the
Borough of Hornsey is prevention of disease and improvement
in the standard of health of the children under five years of
age.
The channels through which this is brought about are:—
(1) Education of mothers in feeding, hygiene and clothing
and training of their children.
(2) Ante-natal care of the mothers.
(3) Detection of deviation from the normal of health at the
earliest possible stages and the insistence upon having these
corrected by the most suitable existing agency, e.g.:—
(a) Medical Officer at the Maternity and Child Welfare
Centre.
(b) General Practitioners.
(c) General Hospitals.
(d) Cottage Hospital.
(e) Infirmaries.
(f) School Clinic, to which all eye cases are sent.
(g) Dentists, of whom two are connected with the
Centres.
(h) Tuberculosis Dispensary.
It is to be noticed that the Maternity and Child Welfare
Department recognise the fact that many curative agencies
exist in their immediate neighbourhood and that the most suitable
of these should always be used, the Maternity and Child
Welfare Department acting, whenever possible, as a clearing
station, and only doing that curative work which would be left
undone if not undertaken by itself.
Personnel.
The Maternity and Child Welfare Department consists of:-
The Medical Officer of Health.
An Assistant Medical Officer of Health in charge of the
Maternity and Child Welfare Clinical Work.