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Smallpox.—The London County Council are prepared to receive cases
of Smallpox from this area into the London Smallpox Hospital so long as
they have sufficient accommodation available.
2. Maternity and Child Welfare:—
(1) Midwifery and Maternity Services.— No changes have been made
in the personnel of the service. We have three Municipal Midwives working
in the district. Except for ante-natal visiting they devote the whole
of their time to midwifery.
The number of cases attended by them was as follows: —
(a) As Midwives 138
(b) As Maternity Nurses 18
Number of visits paid by these Midwives: —
(a) Number of cases 156
(b) Ante-natal visits 1,557
(c) Nursing visits 2,578
Ante-natal Supervision.—This is given to all women attended by the
Municipal Midwives and in every case one or more examinations are made
and if necessary treatment is given by a doctor of the patient's choice. In
necessitous cases the fees for the medical services are paid by the Council.
In 1941 payments were made to medical practitioners in 33 cases.
Consultant.—Mr. Alan Brews, F.R.C.S., has been appointed as
Consulting Obstetric Surgeon to the Borough.
(2) Institutional Provision for Mothers or Children.—Over 50 per
cent.— 228 out of 431 — births in Wanstead and Woodford occurred in
private nursing homes.
3. Health Visitors.— Miss Rhodes resigned her appointment at the
end of the year.
The following particulars of the work done by the Health Visitors are
taken from Form M.C.W.96 (Revised), which was sent to the Ministry o(
Health in advance of this report.
Number of visits paid during the year by the Health Visitors: —
(a) To children under one year of age: —
First visits 418
Total visits 2,061
(b) To children between the ages of one and five years: —
Total visits 4,351
Infant Welfare Centres.— During the early part of the year under
review, enemy action interfered considerably with our normal routine at
our welfare centres. We kept our centres open for medical consultation
and for the supply of infant foods, but in view of the frequent raid
warnings we did not encourage mothers to linger at the centres. These
conditions also interfered with the accurate keeping of records. The