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47
This routine visiting is the main cause of success of the
Maternity and Child Welfare Service, and cannot be too
thoroughly performed. We aim at four routine visits in the
first year and second year of life, and two in every subsequent
year until the fifth year, but it has been found that the
visiting staff is inadequate to meet the demand, especially as
the special baby requires frequent and regular visiting. The
staff, at the time of writing, has been increased, and it is
hoped will be found adequate when the Downham Estate is
fully occupied.
It is intended to co-ordinate the home visiting of the
school child and the baby so that duplication of home visiting
will be avoided, and the present year should see this in
operation.
Appendix XI. will show the extent of home visiting
during each month of 1925. 4,298 home visits were paid
during the year by the two health visitors. As a considerable
portion of the time is occupied in attendance at the four welfare
centres, the two visitors are certainly devoid of adequate
time for home visiting. As some 2,000 babies are on the
register for regular visiting, and as each case should statistically
average at least 3 visits per year, 6,000 visits should be
the minimum for each year. Now that Downham Estate is
rapidly being completed, our home visiting list will be further
extended.
Infantile Mortality.
Thirty deaths of babies were recorded during the year,
two of these being illegitimate babies. This gives an Infantile
Mortality Rate of 57.6 per 1,000 babies born, being the
second lowest infantile mortality rate for the Borough.
Our infantile mortality rate is 10 per 1,000 less than
London, and nearly 20 per 1,000 less than the rate for England
and Wales during 1925.