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46
to complement it and enable mothers who have no particular prob1ems
to enjoy their visits and to look forward to learning and
seeing something new and helpful each time. Secondly, success
would depend on close teamwork in the Centre. The doctor and
health visitors are leaders of the team and decide policy and
line of action. The voluntary workers would now be even more
valuable. Help would be needed with the simple displays used
because they would have to be erected and dismantled at each
session and the skill of many voluntary workers in making, sewing
and knitting would be invaluable to a health visitor constructing
a new display for herself.
Two health visitors would be needed at the centre for this
kind of work. One to supervise routine proceedings, new babies
and prophylaxis, so that the other could concentrate on putting
over the chosen topic. It was also suggested that babies should
not be weighed quite so frequently, but should be undressed,
weighed and examined at the first visit and thereafter at much
longer intervals to create time for teaching the mothers the
manv other signs of good health, growth and development.
Some practical ways in which these ideas might be tried in
Church Halls were then suggested:
Method 1 :- A small simple display is placed on a table near
the circle where the mothers are waiting with their babies and
in full view of them. At intervals during the session, as five
or six mothers are sitting together the doctor or health visitor
will draw their attention to the subject displayed and ask them
informally for their views. It should be quite easy to encourage
mothers to discuss their own experiences - they will learn something
from each other and something extra from the staff who
will help them over difficult hurdles or point out something new;
Method 2:- Once every two or three weeks by means of previous
good clear advertising in the Centre, arrangements may be made
to conduct the session as usual for the first hour, then one
health visitor will supervise routine work and the other give a
half-hour illustrated talk or show a film or film-strip.
Method 3:- Once a month a purely educational session to be
held on another day - either afternoon or evening, the theme to
be chosen by the mothers.
Other difficulties of time and number of attendances could
be overcome with planning.