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31
POST-NATAL CLINICS
During the course of the year, 417 mothers attended the PostNatal
Clinics for examination. This examination takes place by
appointment six weeks after the confinement, and is an attempt to
ensure that complete return to normal health is made.
The appointments are given to every mother whose confinement
has been conducted under the responsibility of one of the
Council's Midwives, and also to every mother whose confinement
takes place in the North Middlesex County Hospital. Appointments
are not made where the confinement has been conducted by
a Private Practitioner unless specially asked for by them.
The number of mothers availing themselves of this valuable,
and in some cases most necessary service, is, on the whole, disappointing,
as a post-natal examination may enable many mothers
to avoid ill-health.
INFANT WELFARE CLINICS
The total number of children who made their first attendance
at the Infant Welfare Clinics was 2,173.
VISITS
The Health Visitors paid 1,031 visits to Expectant Mothers,
4,850 to children under one year of age, and 4,659 to children
between the ages of one and five years.
The number of visits paid by the Health Visitors to expectant
mothers, and children under one year of age, shows a marked
increase over the previous year, but there is a decrease in the number
of visits to children between the ages of one year and five years.
Owing to the shortage of Health Visitors, it was found necessary to
concentrate on visits to expectant mothers and to the younger
children, and unfortunately a large proportion of the time of the
Health Visitors has been spent in investigating home conditions with
a view to ascertaining the possibility of a home confinement because
of the acute shortage of Maternity Hospital accommodation.
It is hoped, that with adequate staff and with an improvement
in the Maternity Hospital accommodation in the district, the Health
Visitors will be able to utilize their time in proper home visiting in
which they can advise and demonstrate to the mothers in their own
homes the various aspects of Child Welfare. It still seems
inevitable, however, that for some time to come, this aspect of the
Health Visitors' work may not be able to receive the full attention
which is the very basis of their activities.