London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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West Ham 1937

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]

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that they may work in close co-operation with the medical officers
and health visitors of Grange Road and Maybury Road maternity
and child welfare clinics respectively. Each of these midwives will
be allowed to attend 80 cases per year. The scheme came into
force on 1st April, 1938, and the municipal midwives started their
duties on the same day. The work of this section will be dealt with
more fully in my next annual report.
ANTE-NATAL WORK,
The ante-natal work which is carried out under the control
of the Council may be divided broadly into three sections:—
(a) Home visiting by the health visitors.
(b) Medical examinations and supervision at ante-natal clinics
at the Council's welfare centres.
(c) Medical examinations and supervision at ante-natal clinics
conducted by voluntary associations with grants from
the Council.
(a) Home Visiting. This is carried out by the health visitors
employed by the Council, of whom there are eighteen, and by
twenty-eight nurses employed by the Plaistow Maternity Hospital
for the purpose of health visiting. The health visitors "follow up"
in their homes all expectant mothers who attend the clinics. As a
result of home visiting mothers are brought into touch with the
services of the Council available for them at such a time, e.g. home
help, dried milk, free meals. In addition, since 1st April, 1938,
any woman who has engaged one of the municipal midwives to
attend her at confinement is visited by the midwife during her
pregnancy)'. This work is shown in Table VII.

Table VII.

Work of the health visitors.

Employing organisation.First visits.Total visits.
Municipal health visitors1,8283,560
Plaistow Maternity Hospital nurses3,14013,207

(b)) and (c) Medical examination at clinics. There are five
municipal maternity and child welfare clinics in the borough, each
of which is so situated as to be easily accessible to the women of the
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