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49
Provision of Beds for Maternity Cases.
The London County Council has made arrangements whereby eight maternity beds are
available for St. Pancras cases at the University College Hospital.
These beds are filled by cases referred to the hospital by the Borough Council, and the
London County Council pay an agreed sum for their retention.
Invalid Children's Aid Association.
Under this scheme assistance is rendered towards the cost of convalescence of St. Pancras
children under the age of 5 years, with a maximum of 70 cases per annum. The financial
arrangements provide for a payment of 75 per cent. of the amount outstanding after allowing
for any payments by parents. During 1946, 48 children were so assisted at a cost to the Council
of £569 5s. Id.
Home Helps.
Maintenance of the Home Helps scheme for the borough is under the direct control of
the Public Health Department.
Where home helps are supplied to assist women who are expectant or nursing, or in connection
with the care of children under 5, the cost is borne by the local authority. Home help6
may also be provided in case of sickness or for the care of elderly persons, when the full cost is
recovered from the Ministry of Health.
Extreme difficulty is still experienced in obtaining women who are prepared to accept
employment as home helps, and during the past year it was possible to meet the demand in
only 32 cases. There were 91 applications. The rate of pay of home helps is Is. 11d. per hour,
a figure agreed by the Joint Industrial Council.
Care of Premature Infants.
Doctors and nurses notifying births of children have been requested to inform the
Medical Officer of Health of the weight of the child at birth, and in most cases they have cooperated
in this respect. Prematurity to-day is not deemed to exist in accordance with the
date of birth of the child as compared with expected time of confinement. What matters more
is not whether a child has been born one month or two months before the expected time, but
its weight at birth, and babies are considered to be premature when their birth weight is 5½ lb.
or less.
Children who were designated as premature in accordance with the above were visited
frequently by the Council's Health Visitors, who submitted monthly reports to the Medical
Officer of Health until such time as the infant weighed 8 lb.

D
(7090)