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births occurred in their own homes, 62% in hospitals and 10%
in Nursing Homes.)
Mothercraft and Relaxation Classes.
Classes covering these subjects were commenced in Purley at
the end of 1953 and the numbers attending have increased very
rapidly. It is now necessary for expectant mothers wishing to join
these classes to make application to the Divisional Health Visitor
at 115 Brighton Road, Purley, who will inform them as soon as
a vacancy occurs.
Midwifery and Home Nursing Service.
Apart from some changes in the personnel there were no
alterations in this service during 1954.
Only one of the former Coulsdon and Purley midwives
remains and she is the only nurse now engaged solely in midwifery,
hence it is difficult to indicate the trend in that service and impossible
to give comparable figures for the Home Nursing Service,
which was formerly undertaken by voluntary associations.
District nursing has undoubtedly increased considerably in
recent years as would be expected in an ageing population, with
the greater number of injections now given and as a result of the
difficulty of arranging hospital admissions.
Home Help Service.
This service had been given much encouragement and had
expanded rapidly before it was transferred to the County Council.
Slightly more cases have since been accepted annually and it would
now appear to have come near to saturation point, 498 cases
having been attended in 1954 compared with 414 in 1947. Priority
is still given to maternity cases, but only 110 were assisted in
1954 (215 in 1947). A relatively high proportion of short or acute
cases has always been accepted owing to the absence of any comparable
service in the District, but the number of long or chronic
cases has tended to increase in recent years.
Family Planning.
The local Clinic continues to give useful service to those cases
in which, on medical grounds, it is undesirable for a further early
pregnancy to occur. In 1954 advice was given to 51 such cases
compared with 75 in 1947 when, in addition, 16 were advised on
sub-fertility. Treatment for the latter is now, presumably, given
at the hospitals, as only one case applied for help in this direction
last year.
Health Visitation.
Eight Health Visitors are now employed in the District compared
with 6 in 1947 of whom 5 were solely engaged in maternity
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