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21
The Welfare Centre. War-time attendance is
good, even during the 1940 "blitz" period. The War, 1
think, is responsible for the difficulty found in maintaining
breast feeding. The young mother will fail to
attend for test feeds and will not persevere with supplementary
feeding. Present day home conditions leave
the mother very little time, if any, to rest; in addition
there is often mental anxiety over husbands who may be
serving over-seas, which circumstances combine to result
in an over-tired and nervy condition.
The sale or free issue of fruit juice and cod liver
oil has "been disappointing. The mothers attending the
Centre are advised and instructed upon the value of cod
liver oil and vitamins and respond well, but on the district
T have found a considerable number who will not
take the trouble to collect the oil even on free coupons.
Mostly the excuse is that the child will not take it or
does not like it, an instance of bad management and
lack of discipline.
The shortage of certain cereals, bones for soup and
fresh fruits, make the advising upon diet during the
weaning period a difficult problem. Very few mothers
will take the trouble to prepare a good vegetable soup
and the use of proprietary brands is taking the place of
broth. The 7 to 12 months diets are the most difficult
the War has produced.
The Health of the Child.—This is good—above
pre-war standard, due to: —
(1) Extension of Ante-Natal Services.
(2) Excellence of Municipal Midwifery Service
for the first 14 days of the infant's life.
(3) The National Milk and Vitamin Scheme.
(4) Woolton diet—cutting out of non-essential
foods.
The use of National Dried Milk has solved the
problem when ibreast feeding fails, with excellent
results.
The War is responsible for plain but adequate diet
for the 2 to 5 year old, with noticeable decrease in
acidosis.
The food available necessitates careful preparation
and cooking to obtain the full food value.