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57
One voluntary organisation, the Downham Infant Welfare Centre, which held child
welfare sessions at the Downham Health Centre (Council premises), decided to cease
administering the sessions, and the Council assumed responsibility for them at the
beginning of October.
Arrangements with six voluntary associations providing day nurseries continued
satisfactorily during the year. Financial assistance was also granted towards the maintenance
costs of one part-time day nursery.
Family
planning
Family planning sessions totalling six a week were provided by the Council for
advising women for whom further pregnancy would be detrimental to health. Where
no such facilities were provided by the Council, the services of the Family Planning
Association were used, a per capita payment being made to the Association. 978
women were referred to the Association during 1953. At the end of the year 32 weekly
sessions were being held by the Association, some in the Council's centres, where
accommodation was made available free of charge to the Association.
Child welfare
It will be seen from the table below that attendances at child welfare centres in the
first year of life amounted to 84 per cent. in 1949, 79 per cent. in 1950, 82 per cent. in
1951, 84 per cent. in 1952 and 85 per cent. in 1953.
Those infants who attend in their first year, do so about 12-15 times. Attendances
tend to fall off rapidly after the first year. All mothers are, however, encouraged to
bring their children to the child welfare clinics, or toddlers' clinics, special invitation
cards to the latter being sent on birthday anniversaries. It has been found that rather
less than one in five children who attend in response to these invitations are referred
to family doctors or hospital to be treated for ailments which the parents might not
otherwise have recognised.
Year
Clinics at
end of
year
(including
toddlers)
Sessions
per
month
Attendances
Under 1 year
Over 1 year
First
Total
First
Total
Special
toddlers
Percentage of
infants attending
a centre
at least once
in the first
year of life
1949 165 1,784 48,489 683,089 6,641 282,202 35,500 84
1950 169 1,815 43,916 649,983 5,496 245,484 41,817 79
1951 169 1,893 45,534 626,164 4,540 235,942 43,145 82
1952 169 2,029 44,452 653,759 4,147 229,134 43,976 84
1953 174 1,901 43,969 615,530 4,671 213,976 42,576 85
Child
guidance
Toddlers' clinics offer special opportunities for the study of emotional disturbances
and maladjustments in the pre-schoolchild. In division 9 some of the child welfare
clinics are working closely with the psychiatrist at Brixton Child Guidance Unit.
Visits are paid by psychiatrists to the child welfare sessions at frequent intervals, and
centre medical officers refer cases requiring skilled treatment to the psychiatrist at the
child guidance unit. A different approach to the same problem is provided by two
child guidance clinics for pre-school children which are held in centres in divisions 2 and 3.
A study group of medical officers of all grades and health visitors, under the chairmanship
of Dr. John Bowlby of the Tavistock Clinic, is meeting to consider the question
of the introduction of preventive psychiatry into the child welfare services.
Reference is made in the section on mental health (page 98) to the provision of special
child welfare services for backward children.