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49
Bromley Common Area.
Miss Connor reports: "On the whole Area 5 is very
responsive to health visiting. I cannot recall one instance
where I was refused admittance. The "door-step" visit
is fast disappearing, and even where the reception is not
brimming with welcome, one can usually get over the doorstep
in the end. Though this is very gratifying and makes
the day's work much easier for the health visitor, there are
many difficulties to confront one, which retard progress
very much. To fully explain these I shall divide my
district into three groups or classes.
(i) The Poorer Classes.—Here the mother often goes
out to work—the baby is left either with the grandmother,
who can give no useful information about the baby and
who generally is not interested in what one has to say, or
the child is left with a friend or neighbour, and it is difficult
to trace. In this home one gets repeated ineffective
visits. The only time to find the mother in is at the midday
meal, when she is busy preparing the meal for the
children at school, or feeding the baby. I fear this is a
very serious problem in my area because of the existence
of laundries. These afford a constant source of employmeat
which mothers think can easily be done as well as
running a home.
Quite a number too, during the season, work on the
land, while a considerable number do daily cleaning. In
this type of home one usually sees the mother at the
primary visit and after that contact is lost. It is obvious
that the upbringing of her children is not her primary consideration,
nor does instruction interest her very much at
any time. The only solution to the problem would be to
make it an offence to employ women with children under
one year of age.
I find the other type of poor—those who do not work
either in their own homes or for wages—usually dull, lazy
and slovenly in habits. They seem not to be able to make
ends meet on the small wage of the husband, and they lose
heart. H ere one can at least keep in touch with the mother,
but one must be satisfied with a very low standard. If one
assumes a critical attitude then admission is refused. I11
fact shutting one's eyes to a lot and finding something