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15
PART II.—SPECIAL SUBJECTS.
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
The annual statistics in regard to births and deaths of infants are given on
pages 9-11 and 11-12 of this report.
A great deal of work in connection with maternity and child welfare is
performed by various voluntary organisations in the borough, and the
following sections set out the work done by the Public Health Department
and the voluntary bodies respectively.
Work of the Public Health Department.
In January, 1917, as reported in the last annual report, two more health
\isitors were appointed, which brought up the Council's staff of women health
wor ers to seven ; viz: one sanitary inspector, two ladies who are sanitary
inspectors as to half their time and health visitors as to half, two health
visitors, and two temporary sanitary inspectors who are taking the place of
men inspectors now with the forces. The work of the women sanitary inspectors
in connection with tuberculosis and infectious diseases is valuable
from the health visiting point of view although it comes under the heading
of sanitary inspection. The amount of visiting which the health \isitors are
able to do in connection with the notification of births is very much curtailed
by the time they have to give up to other work, especially the visiting of
notified cases of measles.
As in previous years cards of advice have been posted to the mothers of all
infants whose births have been notified, and as much visiting to them has
been done as the health visitors have had time for.
Some visits have also been made to expectant mothers whose names have
been obtained from University College Hospital and the Middlesex Hospital,
and cards of advice to expectant mothers have been supplied to these hospitals
and the Maternity Nursing Association, one card being given to every St.
Pancras woman who attends there to arrange for her confinement.
The visiting work to infants and expectant mothers has been considerably
supplemented by the work of the paid visitors from the various centres to
which reference is made later.