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48
as a welfare centre, in view of the fact that the Richmond Road
Centre visiting district was enlarged, also to give up the branch
Centre at St. Martin's Mission in Ada Street and to establish a
centre in St. Michael's Hall, Lamb Lane, to serve the London Fields
area which includes the London County Council's housing estates
in that district.
A list of the present infant welfare centres in the Borough
appears on page 36 of this report. The work of the three centres
controlled by voluntary agencies is co-ordinated with that of the
Borough Council. These voluntary centres are supported by
voluntary contributions and grants from the Borough Council.
Each of the eight centres has an allotted district and mothers
are encouraged to attend the centre serving the district in which
they live.
The consultation work of the centres is conducted by part-time
Medical Officers. These Medical Officers are not in competition
with the general practitioners or out-patient departments of the
hospitals. Their principal duties are advisory and consultative,
and their long experience as specialists in diseases of women and
children makes their advice particularly useful to parents and
doctors who are in doubt, but primarily their function is to advise
in order to prevent disease, and their duties are as follows:—
Expectant Mothers.
(a) Examine as often as may be necessary all expectant mothers who attend
at the ante-natal clinics.
(b) To give advice and treatment or ensure that the patient receives anv
necessary treatment.
(c) To co-operate with the midwives practising in the district by supplying
to the midwives reports upon the examination of their patients.
Child Welfare.
(a) Examine all infants and children brought to the centres.
(b) Advise parents as to the feeding and care of their children.
Post-natal Cases.
(a) At the first attendance of a mother at an infant welfare centre following
confinement to enquire as to the state of her health.
(b) To refer mothers to the ante-natal clinics for examination when the
need for this is indicated.
Generally.
(a) Treat trivial ailments, which might become serious if neglected, as is
probable, or refer cases needing continuous medical supervision and
treatment either to the usual medical attendant or to an appropriate
hospital or clinic. Minor ailment clinics have not yet been established
by the Borough Council. This question is under consideration at the
present time. The County Council has entrusted to medical practitioners
in the district the work of equipping and administering a