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7
Two women died from diseases and accidents associated with
pregnancy and childbirth. The Leyton maternal mortality rate
of 1.36 per thousand live and still births compares favourably
with the corresponding rate of 3.65 for England and Wales.
In September, 1935, a special weekly clinic for the health supervision
and special medical examination of " toddlers " (i.e., children
between two and five years of age) was instituted at each of the
Council's infant welfare centres. A short account of the first
complete year's working of the special toddlers' clinics is incorporated
in the body of this Report.
In September, 1936, your Maternity and Child Welfare
Authority extended their scheme for provision of Home Helps to
apply to any expectant or nursing mother who may be certified
by your medical officer to need domestic assistance on account of
illness.
In October, 1936, the Maternity and Child Welfare Authority
were able to put into operation their scheme for the provision of
meals to expectant and nursing mothers recommended for such
extra nourishment on medical grounds.
School Medical Service.
When the school medical service was established in 1907, its
declared function was medical "inspection" for the purpose of
discovering, enumerating and cataloguing defects. Although, in
the early days, Local Education Authorities were warned by the
Board of Education against embarking on schemes of treatment,
the results of medical inspection soon showed the need of extending
the scope of the medical services to include facilities for treatment
at special school clinics. These facilities for treatment have become
so comprehensive and so much used that the school clinics are now
performing many of the functions of hospital out-patient departments.
In spite of the rapid development and fundamental changes
in the function of the school medical service, the methods of making
and recording the results of routine medical inspections in school
have remained unchanged.
Following a special report submitted by me in 1935 the
Education Authority has now established a special clinic for the
treatment and orthoptic training of children suffering from squint.