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IN-SERVICE STAFF TRAINING COURSE FOR
COUNTY COUNCIL OF ESSEX
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Teaching of Parentcraft
An In-service Training Course was held at the Civic Centre, Dagenham, on the
21st and 22nd October 1958 for nursing and medical staffs of Dagenham, Romford and
S.E. Essex areas. The subject was "The Teaching of Parentcraft" and the course was
attended by about 50 midwives, health visitors, school nurses, nursery staffs and doctors.
The Chairman of the Dagenham Health Area Sub-Committee, Alderman Mrs.
A. E. Prendergast, took the chair at the inaugural meeting when Dr. Dalzell-Ward of the
Central Council for Health Education reviewed approaches and modern methods in the
teaching of parentcraft.
Dr. Ward pointed out that many of our existing methods were out of date; that
rigid adherence to programmes of feeding, of potting and the like were harmful to the
baby and the mother, and made a plea for discussion as a means of introducing parents
or prospective parents to modern ideas on child health, particularly those connected with
mental health.
Two films entitled, "Bathing Babies in Three Cultures" and "Why Won't Tommy
Eat ?," were shown and were discussed at some length. Mr. D. Lynton Porter played a
tape recording he had made of senior girls discussing the film on bathing babies, and
demonstrated how they had noticed that playing with a baby was very important at
bath time and at other times as well. Both mother and baby appeared happier because
of the relationship established during play. Food habits in children were discussed and
the need for absence of fuss at meal times was stressed.
In the afternoon of the 21st October, further discussions took place on group education
methods, using for instance the flannelgraph, the filmstrip, the film etc., and various
groups for the practical work which was to start the following morning were arranged.
On Wednesday afternoon the groups reported on their discussions and showed the
material they had made during the morning's work.
Group I presented a syllabus for parentcraft which dealt with the baby's first six
months and how details of infant care could be presented to an audience of mothers and
fathers during the ante-natal period. The syllabus was divided into a number of sessions,
each session dealing with a special aspect of the infant, such as feeding, vitamins,
clothing, bathing, development etc., and charts, flannelgraphs and models were used.
Criticism of the syllabus ranged from the use of yellow which is a bad colour for flannelgraph
lettering, to the need for a picture of a beautiful baby as an emotional appeal to the
audience.
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