London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
124
Maternal Care.
At the end of the year the Council's scheme for the care of women during
the periods of pregnancy, parturition and puerperium comprised the following
activities:—
Home Visiting.
Pregnancy is not a notifiable condition, but as a result of the widely
spread knowledge concerning, and confidence in, Maternity and Child
Welfare work, many women seek the advice of the health visitors in connection
with this matter. If schemes for maternal care are to achieve their object
of helping and safeguarding women during the critical periods referred to
at the beginning of this sub-section it is of the greatest importance that advice
should be sought as soon as pregnancy is suspected. Delay increases the
difficulty of correcting any abnormality that may be present.
The numbers of individual expectant mothers visited and subsequent visits paid to these during recent years are shown in the following table : —
| 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of individuals visited | 564 | 641 | 619 | 592 | 641 | 631 | 568 | 636 | 456 |
| Total number of visits paid | 1,027 | 1,200 | 1,109 | 1,045 | 1,156 | 1,215 | 1,011 | 1,075 | 998 |
Ante and Post-Natal Clinics.
Particulars of the attendances at the ante-natal clinics will be found in
the table at the end of this section.
At the time of writing the ante-natal clinics are as follows:—
Monday morning. Model Welfare Centre. Districts 1-6. Dr. Gladys
Hill.
Thursday morning. Model Welfare Centre. Districts 1-6. Dr.
Gladys Hili.
Thursday morning. School for Mothers, 28, Herbert Street. District 7.
Dr. Dancy.
Friday morning. Model Welfare Centre. Districts 1-6. Dr. Sylvia
Smith.
A Post-Natal Clinic is held on Wednesday mornings (2nd and 4th in
month only). Model Welfare Centre Districts 1-6. Dr. Gladys Hill.
Women attended the ante-natal and post-natal clinics either of their own
accord or are referred by doctors or midwives practising in the Borough or
by the Health Visitors or by the Municipal Midwife. The number of midwives
practising in Shoreditch is 38.