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8
Ante-Natal Clinics were held at the White Hart Lane Centre
on Tuesday afternoons, Friday afternoons and alternate Saturday
mornings throughout the year. The number of expectant mothers
who attended was 456.
HOME VISITING.
The Health Visitors made a total of 6,119 visits during the
year. Of these, 269 were ante-natal visits to expectant mothers.
2.856 to babies under one year, and 2,994 to children of from one
to five years. The Health Visitors also continued to act as Infant
Life Protection Visitors, visiting all licensed foster-mothers
and foster-children at regular intervals. There were five
foster-mothers and eight foster-children on the Register at the end
of the year.
Free Food.
Free food consisting of dried milk and cod-liver oil emulsion
was issued to necessitous expectant and nursing mothers attending
the Centres at a cost of £19 19s. 9d.
Cod-liver oil, fruit juice and vitamin tablets were issued at
the Centres with the co-operation of the stag of the local Food
Office.
A return received from the Food Office early in the present year
suggests that in Wood Green as in most districts not sufficient
advantage is taken of the special provision of cod-liver oil, fruit
juice and vitamins for children under school age. During the
five weeks ending December 29th, 1945, the weekly average issue
represented the following percentages of the total potential :—
Cod-liver Oil 35.22 per cent.
Orange Juice 54.76 per cent.
Vitamin Tablets 56.54 per cent.
This means that roughly only half of the children for whom
this special provision was available was actually receiving the
benefit.
War-time Day Nurseries
Both war-time nurseries continued to be used to capacity
throughout the year, the average daily attendance at St. Michael's
being 34, and at the White Hart Lane Nursery 40. Apart from
occasional outbreaks of the commoner infectious diseases, which
are very difficult to prevent in institutions of this kind, the health