View report page

36
In spite of all that is done by way of explanation and persuasion, the amount of continuous
breast-feeding in the Borough is lamentably low, and to encourage perseverance in this direction,
special breast-feeding sessions have been started.
The Health Visitors visit all cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, puerperal fever and puerperal
pyrexia ; all cases of measles (which is notifiable in this Borough) in children under five years ; and
epidemic diarrhoea;—and give advice in such cases as may be desirable.
The Health Visitors also visit women in the Borough who are booked to enter maternity wards
of hospitals. The hospital Almoners send lists of such cases, and by this means the department gets
into touch with many pregnant women who would otherwise remain unknown.
The Health Visitor comes and goes as a friend of the family, and the matters upon which she
is consulted are many and varied. The social side of the Health Visitors' work is perhaps not fully
appreciated. The Health Visitors and Medical Officers of the department have, on many occasions,
been the means of obtaining jobs for mothers requiring part-time work, and in some instances, also
for the fathers. They collect, too, from and with the help of their friends, innumerable articles of
clothing and toys for the children. During the year well over a thousand articles of clothing and
many dozens of toys have been so distributed. This side of the work is, of course, entirely voluntary,
but the members of the Staff are satisfied that services of this nature are essential to their work and,
although it has not been mentioned before, this work has been carried on unobtrusively as long as the
department has existed.
For several years the Department has arranged for an annual concert for the mothers attending
the clinics and the Mayor has very kindly provided a hall in the Town Hall for this purpose. This
year there were about 700 mothers present at the concert.
The following table illustrates the scope of the Health Visitors' work:—
Visits to cases of stillbirths 53
First visits to infants under one month 1,781
Re-visits to infants under one month 719
First visits to infants aged one to twelve months 119
Re-visits to infants aged one to twelve months 9,623
First visits to infants aged one to two years 62
Re-visits to infants aged one to two years 5,409
First visits to infants aged two to five years 83
Re-visits to infants aged two to five years 11,200
Visits to children over five years of age:—
Removal from Infant Welfare Register 215
Measles, etc. 33
Convalescent Homes, Holiday Camps, Parties, etc. 253
Throat swabs, etc. 20
Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic 10
Miscellaneous 28
559
First visits to ante-natal cases 1,574
Re-visits to ante-natal cases 1,794
Visits to puerperal fever cases 19
Visits to puerperal pyrexia cases 14
Enquiries concerning maternal deaths and other visits 326
Total Effective Visits 33,335
"No replies" 4,584
Total Visits 37,919