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44
hygiene rather than ease of distribution. It is hoped that the use of
well-sited abattoirs will prevent the return to old conditions in towns of
any size. The time saved by the inspectors not being required to attend
the local slaughterhouses was more than off-set by the demand at the
distribution depot.
Difficulties in distribution have been the cause of some foodstuffs
having to be condemned. At one time this was particularly the case
with eggs, and at another with fish. Perhaps the time of greatest activity
in this line though was the period when food which had been salvaged
from premises which had been the subject of enemy action was released,
which, possibly because it was later retained too long, suffered from the
perforation of the tins from rust. The occasions when the district was
subjected to enemy activity resulted in the inspectors spending much
of their time in an endeavour to combine safety to the consumers with
the maximum recovery of comestibles.
Maternity and Child Welfare Services.
Apart from dispossession from some premises at which clinic
sessions were held and staff difficulties, these services have continued
almost uninterruptedly, and in general home visiting by health visitors,
and the number of clinic sessions, infant welfare, ante-natal and toddlers,
has been maintained. Movements of the child population added to the
difficulties of the health visitors in their home visiting, while much of
their time in dealing with mothers has been taken up in discussing matters
of real importance to the mothers but calling for less of the skilled
knowledge which enables the health visitor to advise the mother on the
satisfactory unbringing of her child. Though the number of infant
welfare sessions has remained much the same, the weekly attendances
have never reached anything like those before the war. The peak
figure for this district was some 1,900 per week in the summer of 1939.
At times the weekly attendance has not reached the 1,000 figure and
has never reached 1,500. The employment of women has probably
been partly responsible for these reduced attendances, another factor
possibly being the introduction of the national milk distribution scheme
for mothers and children.
The work of the Council's domiciliary midwifery service continued
smoothly, the midwives attending each year about one-third of the
confinements of the mothers of the area. For a number of reasons the
demand for institutional confinements has increased, two factors making
this more desirable during war conditions than previously being housing
difficulties and deficiency in domestic help. The lessened accommodation
available in London added to these difficulties.
In March 1942 the first of the war nurseries was opened. By the
end of the next year altogether seven were established, with a total
accommodation of about 360. Except for the Vancouver Road nursery
which has never been filled there has always, except for a few months
of V.l activity, been a sufficient demand for admission that all places
have been taken up with children one from the family of the full-time war
worker. The other provision by which the children of mothers engaged
on war work might be cared for, namely, the daily guardian scheme,
never caught on here and was made very little use of.