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The Health of Barking
of Barking. One fact has occurred to me, and that is that in these other areas,
although the people may be getting a little more money they, on the whole, have
additional expenses and have to budget more closely than some of the people in
Barking, and because of this are only too glad to avail themselves of these special
foods, not only by reason of their usefulness but by reason of the financial value
in doing so.
Anyhow, it still remains that Mary couldn't help me solve this problem and I
know that she won't mind my saying so. Quite frankly, I don't know the answer.
Domestic Helps.
You would not think a young married couple would be very likely to call upon
the services of a Domestic Help and, therefore, you may be surprised to find that
John and Mary were interested in the provision of this very necessary person.
It came about in a curious way. In the latter part of the time Mary was
expecting her baby, John found that with the best will and intention in the world
she could not help her mother, who was an invalid, in the same way as she had
before. Personally, I have no doubt that Mary spoke to John and that John was
soon finding out what could be done, but there was one thing he was determined
upon and that was Mary was not going to do anything which might lead to complications
in her expected confinement.
At the end of 1948 we had 5 fulltime
and 31 part-time Domestic Helps,
of whom many were doing almost, if not
altogether, whole-time work. I want to
take time by the forelock and anticipate
that next year we shall have still further
Domestic Helps. In the little table which
is set forth on this page you will see the
amount of work which has been done.
In a significant number of chronic sickness cases the services of a Domestic
Help were provided, because there are not enough hospital beds for these cases.
These cases usually require the services of a Domestic Help for prolonged periods
and constitute a majority of the cases coming within the heading " sickness cases."
John had something to say about this. He put forward the idea that because so
much of this work was necessary because there were not enough hospital beds,
the charges for the services of domestic helps in such cases should fall on the
Regional Hospital Board and not on the local rates. This, however, is a matter
which I am not qualified to discuss.
Analgesia in Midwifery.
Mary had not been attending the clinic very long before she began asking
the other women who attended what they thought about analgesia and what the
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