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46
It may be noted that the sale of milk has steadily
dropped from 7,896 lbs. in 1928, to 7,432 lbs. in 1929,
to 7,294 lbs. in 1930, and in 1931 to 6,703 lbs. These
figures suggest that during the last four years, there
has been a steady decrease in the incomes of the
parents with whom the Maternity and Child Welfare
department deals, in that more have come under the
free milk scale and fewer have been able to buy it at
cost price.
The question of the supply of dried milk rather
than wet milk to the homes of over-crowded families
is, in my opinion, one of the greatest urgency. Wet
milk cannot be kept satisfactorily in hot and overcrowded
rooms where it is almost certain to become
contaminated by dirt and the germs of disease. Wet
milk is a good medium for the growth of disease germs,
while dried milk is much less liable to such contamination.
Moreover, the curd of milk made from the dried
powder is lighter and more easily digested than that
of wet milk. It is reasonable therefore, to assume
that the production of dried milk at a cost within the
reach of the poorest family is one of the most important
factors in the reduction of infantile mortality. The
Vitamin content of milk is somewhat altered by drying,
but every mother whose child is receiving dried milk
from the Town Hall is carefully instructed by a Health
Visitor as to the proper addition of raw orange or
tomato juice to the diet of the infant. There is at
the present time no difficulty for even the poorest
mother to obtain such fruits throughout the winter
in London.
Maternity Home.
The Fulham Borough Council Maternity Home is
situated at 706, Fulham Road, S.W. 6. It has ten beds
for patients, with an isolation ward containing one bed.
The home is primarily intended to alleviate overcrowding,
and to ensure that mothers whose home
surroundings are unsuitable for confinement should
have privacy and proper attention such as they could
not have in their own homes.