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SANDERSTEAD INFANT WELFARE CENTRE
(Established 1936).

Provision of Milk and Specialist Treatment.
During the year 90 cases in which the parents were known to be
in necessitous circumstances, and the children in need of milk, were
provided with a supply of milk delivered to their homes, free or at a
reduced price, the expense being borne by the Council. This was
an increase of 19 cases on 1935.
Whilst throughout the District the children are, generally speaking,
well nourished, and in many cases above the average development,
there are in attendance at each Centre children who bear witness to the
impoverished condition of their homes. In the majority of these cases
the child has shown great improvement as the result of this provision
of extra nourishment. A few cases, however, have shown that the
provision of milk is not the only need.
During the year 16 cases were referred to hospitals from the Centres,
15 being to Purley Hospital for Ultra Violet Ray treatment, massage
or minor operations, and 1 to Croydon General Hospital for orthopaedic
treatment. A number of cases have also been referred to their own
Doctors for treatment.
These numbers remain low, however, thanks to the appreciation
of the fact that the Child Welfare Centres are not for the treatment
of the sick, but for periodical examination and observation of the
apparently healthy child in order to detect any minor defects, or detrimental
tendencies, and for instruction on how to rear children along
sound lines.
On the other hand, the number of children circumcised at Purley
Hospital prior to the mother's discharge after her confinement has
remained very high, 57 per cent. of the male babies born in 1936 being
so treated.
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