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8
new premises it was possible to arrange for an Ante-Natal Clinic
to be held on three mornings weekly, and the number of new
mothers who attended the Clinic up to the end of the year was 51.
A large proportion of these came in the hope of being admitted
to a Maternity Home, and it was felt that there was an urgent
need for such a Home in the Borough. It was also found that
a number of the children attending the Infant Consultations required
hospital treatment, and whereas cases of acute illness are
usually admitted, if referred to a General or Childrens' Hospital,
the more chronic cases requiring prolonged treatment, are refused
admission, owing to lack of accommodation. It was therefore
decided to open a Municipal Maternity Home and Infants'
Hospital as soon as suitable premises could be obtained.
In November, the Voluntary Day Nursery Committee, having
found that their valuable work of maintaining two Day
Nurseries in the Borough must be given up, on account of lack
of funds, the Council decided to take over one of the Day
Nurseries and keep it open, for the benefit of those mothers to
whom its sudden closure would involve considerable hardship.
As the present house does not come up to the standard required
by the Ministry of Health, it is proposed to transfer the Nursery
to a more suitable building as soon as possible, and in the meantime
to limit the number of children by admitting only the most
necessitous cases.
As a result of the memorandum issued bv the Ministry of
Health in October, on the supply of free or cheap milk to nursing
and expectant mothers and to children under five years of age,
very numerous applications v. ere received from mothers for
grants of milk. These were dealt with by means of a graduated
scale of economic circumstances, ensuring that milk was allowed
in all really necessitous cases.
First visits to houses where births had been
registered 3,119
Re-visits, ditto, ditto 7,576
Ante-Natal cases, first visits 188
Ditto re-visits 141
Special [visits 225
Total number of attendances at Infants' Clinic 9,692