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Maternity and Child Welfare. 75
is given by the matrons and the instruction includes courses of
lectures, which the probationers have to attend before they can
sit for the examination which is held at the end of the course.
The attendances at the Day Nurseries were:—Putney, 4,657;
Balham, 7,830; and Wandsworth, 4,774; a total of 17,261
compared with 19,952 in 1937.
48 inspections of the crèches were made during the year by
the Health Visitors.
Institutions for Expectant and Nursing Mothers and
Young Children.
The Council pays an annual grant to the Streatham Babies'
Hospital, 9, Leigham Court Road, which is a small hospital containing
21 cots for the treatment of infants up to the age of five
years. The staff consists of a Matron, one Sister, two Assistant
Nurses and three Probationers. A Visiting Medical Officer attends
daily. The standard fee is 10s. 6d. per week, but necessitous
cases are admitted free, or at a reduced fee, according to circumstances.
Medical practitioners can recommend children for admission
and are allowed to attend them while in the Hospital.
191 infants were admitted in 1938, 166 from addresses in the
Borough and 25 from outside the Borough. Most of the cases
were infants suffering from Nutritional Diseases, Debility, Respiratory
Diseases, Nervous Diseases and Enteritis.
There is one other large institution in the Borough which
accommodates 60 children up to the age of five years.
There are also five institutions or hostels for the reception
of expectant unmarried mothers, all in connection with rescue
work. In two of them the mothers are admitted some months
previous to the confinement, while in three they are admitted
towards the end of pregnancy. In most of these homes the
mothers are expected to remain some months after confinement.