View report page

654
suffering from Venereal diseases who could not conveniently be
provided for in the ordinary lying-in wards of the Poor Law institutions
of the Metropolis, and also for the admission of nonpauper
patients on the recommendation of the Medical Officers of
Health.
The accommodation in question is provided for the Board by
the City of London Guardians in a portion of the Thavies Inn
Infirmary, Robin Hood Court, High Holborn, E.C. 1, and consists
of beds for 20 expectant mothers, the arrangements for admission
and discharge being controlled by this Board. There is also attached
to the Infirmary an outdoor clinic for the treatment of women and
their babies after discharge.
HEART DISEASE.
Organic Heart Disease will be seen to be a very potent cause
of death in adult life. The real origin of many of these deaths and
of an appreciable amount of invalidity through life is Rheumatism
in childhood, which damages the heart. It is time that this important
fact was more generally realised and acted upon. Exposure,
inadequate sustenance, insufficient clothing, particularly
in the matter of boots, and ill-ventilated damp living and sleeping
rooms, are all factors in the causation of this disease in childhood.
MATERNITY AND CHILD-WELFARE WORK.
Dr. Jackson Smith makes the following observations:
"The Department has made great progress. The new card,
although more detailed than the folded paper previously in use,
saves labour. Last summer a new scheme was drawn up. Since
then the number of mothers brought in to the Medical Officer
has often been double the number previously seen in a longer time.
Of 20 or more babies sometimes seen, as many as six or eight are
often infants "new" to the doctor, but it is far more satisfactory
for mother and doctor, and saves time in the end, for all babies to
be under medical supervision from the first. Since the summer,
mothers have been asked to bring new babies first on the days the
doctor attends.