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42
INFANT WELFARE CENTRES, ANTE-NATAL, ARTIFICIAL
SUNLIGHT AND DENTAL CLINICS.
Infant Welfare Centres.—
A list of the Infant Welfare Centres in the Borough, which
are nine in number, appears on page 35 of this Report. Five of
these Centres are provided and maintained by the Borough Council,
whilst the remaining four, whose work is co-ordinated with that
of the Borough Council, are voluntary Institutions, supported mainly
by voluntary contributions and grants from the Borough Council.
Each of the nine Infant Welfare Centres has been allotted a
district, and mothers are encouraged to attend the Centre serving
the area in which they live.
Part-time (temporary, i.e., not on the permanent staff) Medical
Officers have been appointed to conduct the work of the consultation
Centres, the duties of Medical Officers having been arranged as
follow :—
1. To attend the Centre on each session.
2. To examine all infants brought to the Centre of parents living in the
Borough.
3. To advise the parents as to the feeding and care of their infants.
4. Treat minor ailments in the infant when circumstances indicate the
need for this.
5. To enter on a case paper to be provided for each infant, certain particulars,
with notes on advice and treatment given, and the condition
and progress of the infant.
6. To furnish monthly a return to the Medical Officer of Health as to the
number of infants seen and treated at the Centre.
N.B.—If the aihnent of the infant is such as to necessitate continuous
medical supervision and treatment, the medical officer must refer
the case either to the usual medical attendant or to a hospital for
children, such as the Queen's Hospital for Children, Hackney
Road. The Centre is not intended or fitted to take the place
either of the general Practitioner or the out-patient department
of the hospitals.
The work done at the Infant Welfare Centres during the year
is shown in the following table :—