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* Includes attendances made by Toddlers at special clinic (402)—47 sessions.
In 1935 the experiment was tried of issuing dried milk during the clinic sessions at the
Greyhound Road Centre for mothers in that district, instead of at the Town Hall. The experiment
proved successful, and was instituted at all the clinics, so that no milk is now issued at
the Town Hall. This system is not entirely without disadvantages, but it is working well.
As all mothers buying milk at cost price now attend the Centres, children are brought
for medical supervision who might otherwise remain without it. The percentage of children
under the age of one year attending the clinics is still far below what it ought to be; and we
know that a great proportion of those children who do not attend the clinics have no medical
supervision except in illness.
The area of the Borough is such that, with the Infant Welfare Centres situated as they
are, no mother has a very great distance to walk with her child in order to attend at a Centre;
and it would be well for the Borough if mothers realised the importance of medical supervision
for the apparently healthy child. Fewer defects would remain to be detected when the
children are compulsorily examined by the Education Authorities, and less curative treatment
would be required during school life. Here as elsewhere, prevention is better than cure. The
General Practitioner has neither time nor opportunity for this work; whereas, on the other hand,
the clinics are not concerned with the treatment of sick children.
Again I would stress that supervision of the pregnant and nursing mother is the foundation
o' the whole edifice of Maternity and Child Welfare work. In Fulham since 1919 special cards
have been used at the clinics for recording the history of nursing mothers, while pregnant women
attend at separate sessions.
Upon the mother depends greatly the contentment and well-being of the family, and at
the Centres great emphasis is laid on this point. The presence in the Borough of open spaces
such as Eelbrook Common, Parson's Green, the Recreation Ground, South Park and Bishop's
Park, definitely contributes towards the same end. The organised games which have been
continued in the Parks during the year are a means of reassuring the mothers of their children's
safety and happiness while away from school and out of their sight.
Legislation continues to extend the boundaries of Maternity and Child Welfare work,
and the Maternity and Child Welfare Staff never seems big enough to meet all the demands.
I should like to place on record my deep appreciation of the loyal services of both the Health
Visiting and the Clerical staffs.