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The credit for a large part of this increase is due
to the Municipal Midwives.
Arrangements for dental treatment for expectant and
nursing mothers in the Borough were continued during the year.
Certain foods were supplied to expectant mothers for
whom special treatment was considered necessary; no charge was
made for these supplies in necessitous cases. Fruit juices,
cod liver oil or vitamin tablets were issued by the Ministry of
Pood to expectant mothers - the scheme coming into operation in
January. These commodities wore distributed from each antenatal
clinic.
No request for the- services of a consultant was made
during the years
Towards the end of the year arrangements were made
whereby every expectant mother who attended an ante-natal clinic
could have an X-ray examination of the chest carried out at one
of the two local hospitals. The films are sent to the
Tuberculosis Officer at the Chest Clinic at Hounslow, who
examines them and makes reports. The fee payable by the Council
for each mother, to the hospital is 10/6d. This scheme is I
considered to be an important practical step in the control of
tuberculosis. An expectant mother who develops tuberculosis
will have to face a serious illness, but along with that the
disaster to the family is indeed a tragedy. There is likely
to be risk of infection to the new-born infant, and also
especially to any other adolescent or adult members of the
household; and there is the difficulty of household management
when the mother is 1ll. There has been no difficulty in
persuading mothers to attend for X-ray; the scheme has been
welcomed by them and is running smoothly,
BIRTH CONTROL
No birth control clinic is held in the Borough, but
women for whom pregnancy is considered inadvisable for medical
reasons are referred to the Birth Control Clinic at Hounslow for
the necessary advice, etc,
CARE OF MOTHERS DURING CONFINEMENT
The Corporation have not established a maternity home
and have no formal agreement with any hospital for the reception
of difficult or complicated cased. These are referred to the
West Middlesex County Hospital.
In addition to the employment of part-time Home Helps,
the Corporation engaged throe full-time Home Helps during the
year under review. The charges for Home Helps varied in
accordance with the financial position of the applicant from no
charge to full cost.
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