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86
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
To some houses further visits were paid (17 in number), in the
hope of persuading the mother to discontinue unsuitable food; in most
instances we were successful.
We found, that as a rule, the weaning of the infant was
necessitated by the malnutrition of the mothers, or by their having to
go out to work themselves owing to the lack of employment among
the men.
In certain parts of the Borough midwives are largely employed.
Of the 24 mothers visited in Clapham, three employed registered
and three non-registered midwives.
In Putney 20 mothers were visited, of these seven employed
registered and five non-registered midwives.
In Streatham of the 86 mothers visited 23 employed midwives,
viz., 16 registered and seven non-registered.
In Tooting, of the 368 mothers visited 70 employed midwives,
53 being registered and 17 non-registered.
In the Fairfield Ward of Wandsworth 208 mothers were visited;
72 employing midwives, 31 being registered and 41 non-registered.
In the Southfield Ward of the 16 mothers visited five employed
registered and three non-registered midwives.
In the Springfield Ward 326 mothers were visited; of these 148
employed midwives, 109 being registered and 39 non-registered.
Visiting these homes enabled us to discover and have remedied
many sanitary defects. In Clapham defects were remedied in six
houses, in Putney two, in Streatham seven, in Tooting 28, and in
Wandsworth 72 (Fairfield 28, Springfield 42, Southfield 2).
We feel that in many instances our advice to the mothers has
been of real value, and has helped them to a better knowledge of the
duties of motherhood."