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20
Infant Welfare.
With reference to the above paragraph, the Sub-Committee
suggest that should a case of this disease arise in the district, and
there is accommodation in the Hospital, that the Medical
Superintendent be empowered to take in such case and engage a
temporary nurse for that purpose. That the Child Welfare
Committee be asked to incorporate in their scheme for Ante-Natal
Treatment now under discussion, provision for treating this disease
with a view to obtaining a grant towards the expenses.
Under the same restrictions an urgent case of measles
would also be admitted to the Hospital at the discretion of the
Medical Superintendent and with the approval of the Hospital
Committee.
Under the Notification of Births Act there was in 1915 a
difference of 140 between the births notified and those registered.
To avoid this in future I got the Registrar to furnish me weekly
with the names and addresses of all children born in the district,
with the result that the figure (140) has been reduced to 28 in 1916.
ANTE-NATAL WORK.
The progress in this direction is slow, but is gradually
improving, the difficulty being to get knowledge of expectant
mothers. I wrote to the local midwives and to the authorities
controlling district visitors, but without success. With regard to
the midwives, another friendly conference is about to be held, and
more success is hoped for. The basis of the non-success is an
imaginary misunderstanding between the Midwives' Association
as to interference and overlapping.
The time does not yet seem ripe for the general notification
of pregnancy ; it must at present be voluntary only.
The Health Visitor visits all the expectant mothers she
hears of, and gives them verbal and printed advice on diet, abuse
of stimulants, work and leisure, rest and sleep, fresh air, cleanliness,
and preparation for confinement, and encourages them to come to
the Centre and bring the baby as soon as they can go out.
In April, 1916, a successful " Mothercraft Exhibition" was
held for three days at the Technical Institute, together with