London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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CARE OF MOTHERS AND YOUNG CHILDREN
Administration
Day to day administration of the services is the responsibility of the nine divisional
health committees and during the year members of the committees regularly visited
health establishments in their areas. The reports of the individual divisional medical
officers are given in the section which commences on page 151.
Maternity and child welfare centres
Details of changes in centres during the year will be found in the section on health
service premises, page 45.
Expectant and nursing mothers
Statistics for ante- and post-natal and educational sessions are given in the following tables :
| Year | Ante-natal | Post-natal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinics at end of year (including ante-natal, post-natal, and combined) | Sessions per month | Attendances | Percentage of pregnant women attending at an ante-natal clinic | No. of women attending during year | ||
| First | Total | |||||
| 1953 | 119 | 986 | 22,713 | 129,451 | 44 | 4,062 |
| 1954 | 120 | 920 | 23,204 | 126,270 | 45 | 4,489 |
| 1955 | 118 | 846 | 22,231 | 116,042 | 43 | 4,258 |
| 1956 | 116 | 805 | 23,379 | 122,662 | 44 | 4,543 |
| 1957 | 118 | 786 | 23,918 | 121,579 | 44 | 3,887 |
Tests
Expectant mothers are offered a full range of blood tests at the clinics, and chest
X-ray through the mass X-ray service. General practitioners are invited to use these
facilities for patients for whom they are providing ante-natal care.
Mothercraft
training
Facilities for the treatment of infant feeding difficulties are provided by two voluntary
associations. At the Violet Melchett welfare centre residential care was provided for
56 mothers, 60 accompanied children and 57 unaccompanied children as against 51,
57 and 63 in 1956; similar non-resident facilities were provided at the North Islington
infant welfare centre.
Clinics
The tables on page 51 and above show attendances at maternity and child welfare
centres. Of the 640 sessions a week being held at the end of the year, 386 were conducted
by medical officers employed on a sessional basis.
Voluntary
organisations
Maternity and child welfare services were provided by 17 voluntary organisations
by agreement with the Council under section 22 of the National Health Service Act,
1946. In addition, child welfare centres were maintained on behalf of the Council by
the medical schools for four teaching hospitals acting as voluntary organisations and
grant-aided by the Council.
Family
planning
Family planning advice is provided for married women for whom further pregnancy
would be detrimental to health. 377 sessions were held by the Council attended by a
total of 4,092 women. In addition, 688 women, for whom payment was made by the
Council, were referred during the year to clinics run by the Family Planning Association.
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