[Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health, Pontefract Borough.

  • Pontefract (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health, Pontefract Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    - 5 - Total number of attendances at the Centre made by children under five years of age, 5,296. Your thanks are due to the Ladies’ Voluntary Committee for valuable services rendered at the Centre during the year. . Ante-natal clinic is held weekly, and during the year under review 303 expectant mothers attended at the clinic. Ante-natal work was started in 1925, and in that year 20 women attended: by 199^ the figure had reached 100; by 1937, 200; and the present figure is the highest on record: it means that 3 out of every 4 expectant mothers avail themselves of your ante—natal services. Although no separate post-natal clinic has been established, 14 cases were given post-natal examination. % . The following proprietary preparations are available at cost price (free in necessitous cases) to all women attending the clinics Ostermilk (Nos. 1 and 2) Humanised Trufood Lactogol Ovaltine Glucodin Be max Virol Virolax The following are distributed■free of charge:- I. C. D. tablets Ferrous Sulphate tablets Viteolin tablets National Dried Milk, Cod Liver Oil and Fruit Juice, are also distributed at the Centre. Maternity During the year 11 women were sent to the Maternity Hospital at Leeds, and 3 ho the Wakefield Maternity Hospital; but in the great majority of normal cases domiciliary arrangements were made. The County Council is the Local Supervising Authority under the Midwives Acts, and details of births notified by the local midwives and others are forwarded weekly to the County Authority. It is unfortunate that the Home Helps Scheme is not in a healthier condition; but with so many women on war work - women who would normally be available for this work - it appears impracticable to operate the Scheme on the scale anticipated. Child Life Protection The Register of persons who are receiving children for reward contained only one name at the end of the year; and only one child was concerned. Visits were paid from time to time by the.Child Protection Visitor, and conditions were found to be satisfactory. Diphtheria Immunisation This will be dealt with fully in Part Three of the Report, but I would stress at this point the importance of mothers recognising the.need for protecting their children against diphtheria earlier in life. Every mother in the Borough is invited to bring her child to the clinic for immunisation immediately the child reaches the age of one year: in some cases mothers have been written several times and then interviewed, but without result. Only half the children between the ages of 1 and 5 years have received protective treatment; a position which is far from being satisfactory.