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33
Nursery for Jewish Infants, New Road.—Fifty infants can be accommodated
at this creche, but the average number is 35 per day. The amount paid
for each child is twopence per day, and no child is allowed if its home is more
than 1½ miles from the creche. Each child has a bath on admission, and is
dressed in special clothing provided for it during the time it is in the creche.
There is an open playground attached to the creche, and each room is adequately
ventilated. An isolation room is provided.
St. Paul's Creche, WeIlclose Square.—The average number of infants
accommodated is 24 to 34, although there is room for 40. There is a large
open playground, which is utilised during the warm weather. The mothers pay
threepence per day for each child. Most of the mothers reside in St. George's
or Whitechapel, but no child is refused. The long tube bottle is, unfortunately,
in use at this creche. The children are given a bath if it is thought necessary,
but not as a routine on their arrival. They are kept in their own clothes all
day, and no special clothing is provided. There is no isolation room, but if a
child is suspected to have an infectious disease, it is taken into the kitchen for
the rest of the day.
George Yard Creche.—The average number of infants is 18, but 20 can be
accommodated. The long tube bottle is sometimes used. The children do not
have baths and no special clothes are provided, but they are kept in their own
clothes all day. The mothers pay threepence a day, and the infants are brought
from any distance. I have seen a child which had been brought five miles from
its home to this creche.
154, St. George Street.—This is a creche in connection with a soup kitchen
at the above address. Children from the immediate vicinity only are taken in.
No fixed charge is made, but the mothers pay what they can. The children
do not have a bath, and are kept in their own clothing all day. The average
number of children at the creche is 10, but 18 can be accommodated.
One of the objections raised against creches is their liability to encourage
premature weaning, and in some creches it must be admitted that this danger
is not sufficiently appreciated. The establishment of a creche need not tend to
discourage breast feeding, and in one of the above mentioned creches the mother
is asked to return twice a day to give the breast to the baby. As an encouragement
to the mothers to suckle their children, a glass of milk or a cup of cocoa is
given to the mother in some creches whenever they come to suckle their
children.
In addition, the Notification of Births Act enables the Sanitary Authorities
to advise mothers against premature weaning.
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