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Centres, where she is entirely responsible for maintaining
the stocks of food, etc., and the keeping of the books and
registers. The work also entails a large amount of "following
up " of ailing children, and the "looking up "of
parents and children attending irregularly.
Since the termination of the War, the number of births
also has greatly increased.
There is consequently more work than is possible for
one Health Visitor to do. An Assistant Health Visitor was,
therefore, appointed in February last year, who, besides
her health visiting duties, was required to relieve the Midwife,
when the latter is off duty, on her holiday, or in an
emergency.
The Assistant Health Visitor resigned in November,
and, as the Midwife's time was not by any means fully
occupied with midwifery, it was decided that she should
occupy her spare time in the capacity of Assistant Health
Visitor for a period of six months as an experiment.
The plan, however, does not work well, as, of necessity,
the time she is able to devote to health visiting and Centre
work is irregular; and such work, to be efficient, should
be regular and constant.
The question of appointing another full-time Assistant
Health Visitor should, therefore, be seriously considered.
In my opinion, it is absolutely necessary if this work is to
be carried out with efficiency, and the full benefit of the
Maternity and Child Welfare Work in this district is to be
obtained.
Midwives.—The supervising authority in this District
is the Middlesex County Council. There are eight midwives
practising privately in the District. A municipal midwfe
was appointed by the District Council in November, 1919,
to reside and work chiefly in Southgate, to take the place
of a midwife practising privately and now deceased. She
is also required to attend cases in any part of the Urban
District when applied for. During this time, she has attended
an average of 60 cases per annum, chiefly in South-