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56
HISTORICAL.
In the year 1912 Leyton Urban District Council began to take
a direct and personal interest in the welfare of mothers and young
children by appointing a part-time health visitor to undertake the
visiting of infants in their homes. Of the many difficulties with
which such pioneering health visitors had to contend, one of the
chief was that of getting reliable information regarding the number
and the whereabouts of the babies they were appointed to visit;
and it was to overcome this difficulty that the Notification of
Births Act, 1915 was passed. Thereafter notification of birth
became compulsory all over the country, and local authorities were
given power to undertake maternity and child welfare work.
In 1917 Leyton Council established its first municipal Infant
Welfare and Ante-Natal Clinics, and appointed a part-time medical
officer for maternity and child welfare.
Under the provisions of the Maternity and Child Welfare
Act, 1918 Leyton Council became a Welfare Authority, and in
September of that year established a Maternity and Child Welfare
Committee.
In 1930 the Borough Council became the Local Supervising
Authority under the Midwives' Acts and the authority responsible
for the Registration of Nursing Homes.
During the thirty years which have elapsed since the Leyton
Maternity and Child Welfare Committee came into being (i.e., in
1918) the Council has taken full advantage of its powers to organise
and encourage schemes for the welfare of expectant and nursing
mothers and of children under five years of age. In that time
there has developed in the area a comprehensive municipal maternity
and child welfare service which has been greatly appreciated by
residents in the Borough.