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mothers of the community must be instructed and helped in the
hygienic management both of their children and of their surroundings
during the first 12 months of the infant's life; and this can only be
properly secured by, the appointment of efficient women workers. In
the preface to my last Annual Report, I stated that "in Stoke
Newington five ladies gave their services voluntarily to the Borough;
and, under my direction, and with the capable assistance of Miss
Gardner, they have visited and advised many mothers who stood in
need of their assistance. Valuable as these services have proved
there is an urgent need in the Borough for the appointment of one
of those paid female officials who are now doing such good work
under most of the other Sanitary Authorities of the Metropolis, the
Notification of Births Act, 1907, has increased the urgency of this
provision."
The zeal and goodwill of voluntary health visitors does not
suffice in view of the fact that their services are of necessity brief
and irregular. Moreover, in Stoke Newington, the good work which
they have hitherto performed has been confined to certain localities
only. It was mainly owing to the circumstance that the sphere of
this useful work was so much limited that I reported to the Public
Health Committee advocating the appointment of a female sanitary
inspector. The first female sanitary inspector in London was
appointed by the Vestry of Kensington in 1895, and the result
proved so satisfactory that other appointments soon followed. Now
there are in London 40 such officials, and at the end of 1908 there
were only four Boroughs (including Stoke Newington) without their
services. A female sanitary inspector has to go through the same
training as a male inspector and obtain the same qualifying certificates;
she undertakes much of the work of a male inspector and
ranks in every respect as an official sanitary inspector. The special
work she is called upon to perform often embraces:— The inspection
of workshops where women are employed; the inspection of
the homes of the numerous outworkers in connection with factories
and workshops; inspection of the registered houses let in lodgings;