London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Woolwich 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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35
The Work of the Welfare Centres.—These are eight in number and are
all municipal. Infant Welfare sessions are held at all of them; ante-natal sessions
are held at four—in two instances twice weekly, in one instance thrice weekly, and
in one instance once a month. Since April one health visitor at Woolwich, one at
Plumstead and one at Eltham have been engaged wholly in clinic work, either in
their own main centre or in one of the subsidiary ones. With the inclusion of the
monthly ante-natal sessions at North Woolwich, at the end of the year 7.25 antenatal
sessions and 25 infant consultation and weighing sessions were being held
each week.
In tabular form below are shown detailed statistics for 1937 and the consolidated
statistics for the previous year:—
TABLE No. 9.
| Center. | Number on Roll of Centre. | Number of Attendances. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mothers. | Children. | Mothers. | Children. | |||
| Expectant. | Nursing. | Expectant. | Nursing. | |||
| Town Hall | 412 | 249 | 1,308 | 803 | 373 | 8,589 |
| Plumstead | 270 | 347 | 1,123 | 669 | 798 | 8,750 |
| Eltham | 469 | 192 | 1,060 | 1,355 | 274 | 7,057 |
| Slade | — | 88 | 483 | 1 | 115 | 4,307 |
| New Eltham | 3 | 55 | 516 | 1 | 83 | 5,771 |
| St. Luke's | — | 48 | 312 | — | 49 | 3,065 |
| North Woolwich | 25 | 20 | 126 | 72 | 31 | 1,109 |
| Beresford Street | 9 | 38 | 146 | 18 | 52 | 735 |
| Totals, 1937 | 1,188 | 1,037 | 5,074 | 2,919 | 1,775 | 39,383 |
| Totals, 1936 | 1,053 | 985 | 5,099 | 2,857 | 1,785 | 39,204 |
The next Table, No. 10, shows the number of children attending each centre
and the number of attendances made by them during the year. It should be noted
that children are classified in the table by year of birth, so that the figures cannot
be read as under one year, under two years and so on. They illustrate, however,
quite definitely the fact that the toddler does not attend such clinics in large numbers,
and that as he gets older he attends less. The figures in this table do not include
those of the Toddlers Clinics or of the Sunlight Clinic.