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A considerable proportion of expectant mothers attend the Borough ante-natal
clinics at some stage of pregnancy. In 1958, 1,377 mothers made 6308 attendances,
though the number is slowly declining. The first Non-Medical Supervisor of Midwives
and Home Nurses was appointed in 1954, a great step forward in the development and
organisation of these services.
The Home Nursing Service has had a difficult ten years, after starting off
with three great handicaps - extreme shortage of staff, very unsuitable premises, and
lack of transport. The staff is gradually being built up, the present premises (at the
previous day nursery in Liverpool Road) are a great improvement, but not the ultimate
solution, and the transport problems remain. The volume of work has increased from
32,538 visits to 906 patients in 1949 (the first year for which the records are comparable)
to 82,114 visits to 2,740 patients in 1958.
The home nurses now cover the whole area south of the district railway line; the
north still receives excellent service through the Lady Rayleigh Training Home staffed by
the Essex County Council. It is however hoped that as the municipal service is built up
it will gradually be able to absorb the northern area so as to form an integrated service
for the Borough.
During the last ten years three of the five Borough day nurseries have been closed
(two being converted to nursery schools) but in 1949 the Womens' Settlement opened a small
day nursery at their premises in Cumberland Road. This was enlarged in 1952.
Looking back over the ten years the main trend has been for closer integration
and a widening outlook.
Local health authority services for mothers and children now work much more closely
with the other sections of this department, with other Council services and with other
branches of the National Health Service, as well as with voluntary organisations such as
the Diocesan Moral Welfare Association for the County and the local branch of the Invalid
Childrens Aid Association.
We see the child not only as an individual but as a member of his family and
community.
Amongst ourselves also, we have evolved a series of group meetings (working parties,
case conferences, consultative committees, in-service training groups) which have greatly
enriched us and facilitated our work. We are grateful to all those who have helped us and
have joined us in these groups. This enrichment of ourselves must surely be reflected in
the effectiveness of the service which we are able to give to the community.
The Senior Medical Officer is grateful to all of those in the section - and there
are many - who have helped to bring about this "easing of communication". It has certainly
greatly assisted and enlightened her work. Her gratitude is particularly due to all those
members of the school health service who joined with the Maternity and Child Welfare Service
at the beginning of the year, to form the joint Maternal and Child Health Section. They
could not have been more helpful.
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