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The mothers have so little time to spare that they prefer to bring their toddlers
to the ordinary afternoon clinics with the younger babies.
The Sewing Class conducted by the Health Visitors on Wednesday afternoons
had an average attendance of 20. A special clinic is held for mothers and children
at the Municipal Dental Hospital on Thursdays at 10.30 a.m., and the attendances
totalled 1,101 as compared with 682 in the previous year.
During the year assistance was given by the Borough Council toward the cost
of maintenance of 30 children at Convalescent Homes. This is more than twice
as many as in previous years. In 28 cases convalescence was arranged through
the Shoreditch Branch of the Invalid Children's Aid Association, in 1, through the
Metropolitan Hospital, and in 1, through the Association of Infant Welfare Centres.
In addition 9 cases were brought to the notice of the Guardians as being suitable
for convalescence.
This opportunity is taken of drawing special attention to the great power for
good that these Convalescent Homes exert for a Borough such as this. The results
are in many cases nothing short of marvellous. Children for whom everything
else has been tried return after 2 months improved out of all knowledge.
Unfortunately, most of the approved homes will not accept unvaccinated children,
so that many of the children who would benefit from a stay in the country or at
the seaside are denied this privilege. Frequently, also, difficulty is met with in
the case of parents who refuse to part with their children even for a short period.
The question of health education in connection with Maternity and Child Welfare
has been considered during the year. The value of talks or lectures cannot, of course,
be compared with that of the advice given individually by the doctor or health
visitor, but they are probably a useful adjunct to the activities of a centre. A few
talks to mothers were arranged during the year, but it was found extraordinarily
difficult to persuade mothers to wait for these set lectures at the clinics or to come
for them in the evenings. Even when a lecturer of repute came to speak, the response
was usually very poor.
The explanation probably lies in the fact that the great majority of women
of this Borough have practically no leisure, and their lives are spent hurrying from
one essential duty to another. Meetings for fathers, consisting of a health talk
and discussion, at which cinema films were shown, were held frequently during the
year. These were a little better attended, but here again interest was difficult to
rouse.
As in previous years difficulty was experienced in getting mothers to come in
for the establishment of breast feeding, owing to other calls on their time. It is
hoped in the near future to develop a clinic at which in certain cases mothers will be
able to leave their babies during the day and attend for instruction in breast feeding.
The following are typical examples of the cases admitted during the year :—
Case 1.—D.V. 3. Age 3 months. An under-sized, marasmic baby
weighing 7 lb. 12 oz. Fed on dried milk mixture before admission. Stools
were loose and offensive. Was put on lactic acid whole milk and made good