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81
command a much higher standard of care and
exercise stricter supervision.
7 That institutions for these cases should not be too large.
The maximum accommodation recommended for one
unit is 20 beds. It is essential that the grounds of a
hostel should be both private and spacious. Many
of the girls in the later stages of pregnancy are veiy
self-conscious of their appearance and spend much
of their time in the garden. Matrons in charge of
hostels stress the need for providing some privacy for
girls who stay for more than a few months. It
would appear that for the long-stay type of hostel,
separate bed-sitting-rooms are most desirable.
Institutions
These are maintained by the Voluntary Associations, and
appear to be of two types: (i) Short Stay Hostels, (ii) Long Stay
Hostels.
Short Stay Hostels are sometimes known as Shelters or
Refuges. They frequently admit girls in moral danger, homeless
and stranded girls, in addition to pregnant girls. The stay is
normally limited to two or three months before and after the
baby is born.
Long Stay Hostels in which the period of stay may exceed
six months and from where the mother may go out to work.
There is at present a definite shortage of both long and
short stay accommodation, and there is little likelihood of the
Voluntary Association being able to increase the accommodation
without very substantial financial support. The provision of a
hostel of the long stay type would relieve the existing short stay
hostels of a number of their cases and would enable them to take
an increased number of short stay cases.
Hostel accommodation could most suitably be obtained by
constructing a building specially designed for the purpose. Alternatively,
some war-time nurseries might be easily adapted, but