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50
INFANT WELFARE CENTRES, ANTE-NATAL,
ARTIFICIAL SUNLIGHT AND DENTAL CLINICS,
AND DAY NURSERY.
Infant Welfare Centres.—
The Maternity and Child Welfare Committee of the Council have
under consideration the question of constructing and equipping
premises as Infant Welfare Centres to replace existing Centres
which are held at hired premises and which, with the exception of
the Centre at Lower Clapton Road, are not particularly suitable
for the purpose.
A list of the Infant Welfare Centres in the Borough, which are
nine in number, appears on pages 43 and 44 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 ailment 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 outpatient
department of the hospitals.
The work done at the Infant Welfare Centres during the year
is shown in the following table:—