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19
"The Ante-Natal Classes have been held every
Wednesday throughout the year 1946, except Victory Day
and Christmas Day. There have been 83 new patients
and 545 attendances. Many of the patients come a long
distance but in spite of bad weather the majority have
put in 14 to 16 attendances. The mothers enjoy the
classes and say they feel much better for them. From
letters received and official reports the patients do not
fear their confinement and therefore are able to co-operate
with the Doctor or Midwife with beneficial results both
for the mother and baby."
This service is still experimental to some extent but 1
am now of opinion that it serves a useful purpose and could
with advantage be extended to selected post-natal mothers in
whom the tone of the abdominal muscles has been markedly
lowered by successive pregnancies.
PSYCHOLOGICAL:
The provision of psychological treatment for children
under five years of age was continued, the children being
referred by the Departmental Medical Officers from the
Child Welfare Centres. The following report from the
Psychotherapist in charge will be of interest. In addition to
this more preventive type of treatment, cases in which a more
deep-seated neurosis has developed are referred to the
Tavistock Clinic for treatment:—
"The object of this clinic is to help mothers with the
handling of pre-school children with behaviour problems
and emotional disturbances. During the year 1946, an
average of five mothers was seen every Thursday afternoon.
At least 50% of these cases were "feeding problems,"
that is to say, children who appear to have no
appetite at all, refuse all attempts to feed them and
either do not gain or actually lose weight. The remaining
50% include chiefly nocturnal enuresis cases, children
with temper tantrums and those having difficulty with
their toilet training.