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Home Visiting.—The visits by the Health Visitors in connection with the Maternity and Child
Welfare Work are shown in the following table:—
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1st visits to babies under 1 year
1304
1395
1472
1520
1346
Routine Re-visits to babies and
children up to 5 years
4311
3982
4190
3210
4720
Inquiries made, elicited—
Feeding—Natural
887
980
1105
1135
1093
Artificial
44
77
64
95
77
Both
32
56
51
44
36
Sleeping with parents
277
260
247
154
126
Using comforter
168
195
217
175
170
Mother working during pregnancy
48
53
44
29
48
Year 1933. Other visits.
Post-natal 16
Measles and German
Ante-natal—First visits 123
Measles
10
Subsequent visits 38
Whooping Cough
64 Children
Infants' Deaths and Stillbirths,
Visits paid 81
Mumps
under
Chicken Pox
22 5 years.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum and
Discharging Eyes 123
Pneumonia
15
Bronchitis
27
Infantile Diarrhoea .. 3
Milk and food cases
53
Puerperal Fever and Puerperal
Pyrexia .. .. 15
Home help
32
Infant Protection Visits
783
Social conditions
131
Summary of Nurses' Visits.
Total to expectant mothers 161
„ children under 1 year of age 3919
„ children between the ages of 1 and 5 years 3527
Visits re Public Health matters, infectious diseases, tuberculosis, etc. 418
Total 8025
Health Visitors' attendances at the Maternity and Child Welfare Centres, Ante-Natal Clinics,
etc., 689.
Health Visitors' attendances at Diphtheria Immunisation Clinics, 89.
Home Help for Mothers.—The Home Help paid 52 visits during the year, and her work
was found of considerable value. She also assists at the Centres, and makes dressings, when not
occupied with her other duties. One is finding that the demand for a Home Help is not as great as
it was some years ago, largely due to the work being undertaken by friendly neighbours.
In addition to her work as Home Help, in part of her time she carries out cleansing of unclean
heads, under a special scheme. She was trained at one of the London Cleansing Stations; the Council
provides the Sackers' combs and the necessary shampoo and towels. A fee of Is. is charged for
each case. By this means any child who is excluded from school, can be back within two days,
and the cleansing is not carried out by an officer of the department acting as such. During the year
101 children have been cleansed.
Grants of Milk.—Milk is supplied free or at reduced rate to expectant mothers (during the
last three months of pregnancy), to nursing mothers, and to children under three. The scale of
grants for provision of milk has been fixed as follows:—
Where the family income after deducting rent is less than—
4s. per head Free.
4s. to 5s. per head Parent pays one-third cost.
5s. to 7s. 6d. per head Parent pays two-thirds cost.
Where the amount is over 7s. 6d. per head, no grant is made.
The number of grants made during the year was 1,052, against 831 for the previous year.
It is noticeable that with the present financial stringency which arose out of the national
crisis, there has been a very definite upward trend in the number of applicants for assistance.
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