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births in the Borough come to the knowledge of the Department.
In the case of Woolwich infants born outside the
Borough, such notifications are usually transferred from the
Medical Officers of Health concerned, and it is the practice
here, in the case of infants born in Woolwich and the addresses
of whose parents are outside the Borough to send copies of the
notifications of births to the Medical Officer of Health concerned.
Each morning, on receipt of these notifications, as a
matter of routine, pamphlets dealing with the care and comfort
of mothers and infants are sent by post to every mother.
It is the duty of the health visitor to visit such homes as is
deemed desirable between the tenth and fourteenth day.
From her first visit she gauges the necessity for subsequent
visits, but, as a general rule, works up to the following standard:—three
visits during the first year and one visit in each
subsequent year up to the age of five years.
(b) The Work of the Health Visitors. No change has
taken place in the personnel of the Health Visitors during the
year. Their duties comprise the visiting of births and of
children under school age ; the visiting of expectant mothers
who have attended at an ante-natal centre or to whom visits
are desirable ; the investigation of a limited number of still
births and the deaths of young children ; the visiting and
reporting upon all cases of Puerperal Fever and Puerperal
Pyrexia ; and attendance at the infant welfare centres. The
supervision of all children under school age includes the visiting
of cases of Ophthalmia Neonatorum, Measles, Zymotic
Enteritis, Pneumonia and Anterior Poliomyelitis.
Arrangements have been made whereby, so far as is
practicable, the health visitor attends at the welfare centre
which is most convenient to the women residing in her district.