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43
Morning Clinics.
Reference has already been made to the Morning Clinics in
connection with mention of the passing of some minor ailments
to them for treatment. These Clinics are an important adjunct to
the ordinary work of the Child Welfare Centre, both indoor and outdoor.
There are always a proportion of cases that present features
requiring individual, sometimes prolonged, attention that cannot
be given at the ordinary Clinic or in the home. Some skin
diseases, certain infective conditions, mothers needing special
advice as to handling and feeding their babies, etc., are sent from
the Clinics, or by Health Visitors when visiting the homes, to the
Morning Clinics, and there they receive from the Medical Officer
and Health Visitors on duty the help they need.
One of the most important items of the work done at the
Morning Clinic is the careful investigation of various conditions
of young infants by means of "test feeds." Symptoms and signs
may have suggested that the child is getting too little, or too
much, breast-milk. The mother may report that her milk is failing,
when there seems no reason to account for such failure; or
there may be an actual failure, for which some remedy has to be
found. The first thing to be done is to obtain exact information
as to what the mother is actually giving to her baby, and this is
accomplished at the Morning Clinics at the White House by " test
feeds." The Medical Officer is able to compare the results
obtained with what ought to be in the case under observation, and
so a first factor is obtained for the treatment of mother or child,
or both, or for necessary modification of the feeding.
The Morning Clinics are held:—
At White House, Plashet Grove, on
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 9 to 10.30
a.m.
Number of cases seen at Morning Clinics during 1926 was 1,813
Number of medical consultations 1,194
Dental Treatment.
It is becoming increasingly recognised that attention to the
teeth of nursing and expectant mothers and of young children is
one of the most important methods of preventing disease and
securing healthy development of the child population; and a Clinic