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34
of this, so duties in connection with the schools have been
allocated as equally as possible to fit the exigencies of the
services.
Turning again to Appendix XII. it will be observed
that out of 779 known births (live and still) 645 primary
visits under one year (including 14 stillbirth visits) were
made by the health visitors, which shows that approximately
82 per cent. of births received visitation. The
total number of children who attended at the welfare centres
for the first time during the year and who, on the date of
their first attendance, were under one year of age was 391.
Of the 631 primary visits to babies under one year of
age 62 per cent. were subsequently brought to the welfare
centres, and of 748 notified live births, 52 per cent. were
enrolled on the welfare centre registers.
One hundred and ninety-nine following-up visits
were made to 142 expectant mothers who attended the
ante-natal clinics, and the advice given at these visits is
again supplemented by the doctor and health visitors at the
welfare centres as the majority of expectant mothers also
attend the centres frequently. Visits to mothers in connection
with the Midwives Acts in those cases where a
doctor has been summoned in an emergency are placing
increasing demands on the health visitors' time. The visits,
however, repay the time spent, as the health visitor, in the
course of visiting to ascertain economic circumstances of
the family in view of the pending claim on the patient by
the Local Authority of the doctor's fee, is in a position to
get in early touch with the nursing mother, who in many
cases is of the type who rarely utilises maternity and child
welfare services.
In concluding this paragraph it may be of interest to
note that out of the total of 9,371 visits, 5,275 (56 per cent.)
were made in connection with ante-natal, post-natal and
welfare generally of the child up to five years of age. The
remainder of visits relates chiefly to school children and
tuberculosis, a valuable work which will be dealt with later
under the appropriate headings. At the present time we
lack the provision of home nursing visits to young children
suffering from acute non-notifiable infectious diseases,
such as measles, whooping cough, etc., diseases which