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(1) The minimum attendance was on the opening day, when only two had been asked to come.
(2) Two others attended 15 times each ; these and many others, who came once only in 1913,
still continue to come (1914).
(3) Twenty-seven came once only, and for various reasons have not attended since ; some from
clean homes apparently disliked to sit uncomfortably close to others not so scrupulous as to personal
cleanliness, and close quarters were at that time unavoidable.
The infants brought ranged from healthy breast-fed babies, who made excellent
progress, to the bottle-fed baby of poor physique, whose condition improved
very slowly and uncertainly.
Those whose babies did. not increase in weight, or were found to have other
unsatisfactory symptoms were advised to consult a doctor. These were also visited
in their own homes to ascertain whether some defect in the mixing or storage of
food, &c. was the cause of the trouble.
When brought to the Town Hall, the baby is undressed, weighed and
examined and its condition commented on. Whilst being dressed, the mother is
shown how to handle the baby properly, how to dress it with the least expenditure
of her own time, and the least inconvenience to the baby ; a lesson much
needed by all but a few, but quickly learnt by the unprejudiced.
One of the advantages of having the weekly class has been the opportunity
afforded of teaching better methods of clothing of infants. Many babies are at one
and the same time, both overdressed and insufficently clad; they wear several
layers of garments, but the materials afford no real warmth, and the shape gives
no protection to those parts of the body which most require to be clothed. This
is to a great extent the direct result of poverty, bat it is also its indirect result.
Very few mothers in this Borough have the means to obtain leisure to keep
pace with the times, and to learn for themselves that garments once thought suitable
are now discarded in favour of more rational and not more expensive
fashions.
To point out defects in clothing when visiting a home is often undesirable,
and more often useless; to show suitable clothing to those who come to seek advice
is a superior method and much more effectual. Patterns of suitable clothes are
placed at the disposal of those attending, and many have used them ; one woman
who having only one child, had less calls on her purse, and more leisure than
some others, gradually made an entirely new set of clothes for the baby, which
was then most satisfactorily dressed,