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46
The Babies' Hospital.
The Babies' Hospital has accommodation for 21
children under five years of age and is under the control
of a Voluntary Committee, who receive a grant of £1,417
per annum from the Fulham Borough Council and the
services of a Medical Officer.
The Hospital is ordinarily intended for cases of
malnutrition and children requiring dietetic treatment.
The majority of these are cases of marasmus or wasting,
but an appreciable number of premature infants requiring
special care and nursing are also included. In the case
of the larger hospitals the calls on the accommodation
are so great that there is often difficulty in keeping
dietetic cases king enough in hospital to enable them to
derive full benefit, whereas these patients can be treated
in the Babies' Hospital as long as is necessary to complete
the course of treatment.
The number of cases of rickets has diminished very
markedly of late years owing to the improved knowledge
of feeding among the mothers which has resulted from
education in health matters in the welfare centres,
schools and elsewhere.
A considerable number of children suffering from
bronchitis and pneumonia are treated in the hospital
from time to time, especially during the winter months.
In addition children are admitted for convalescence after
minor operations, such as removal of tonsils and adenoids
and circumcision, which have been carried out in other
hospitals. In all these cases advantage is taken of the
facilities for open air treatment on the balcony and in
the garden.
(rood results have been obtained in the case of
infants admitted for test feeding. Here the child is kept
under observation as a patient in the hospital while the
mother attends at intervals of three or four hours, as
arranged, during the day. By means of this detailed
observation of the feeds the mother can often be convinced
of the possibility of continuing breast f eeding, with great
benefit to the infant.