[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton].

  • Leyton (London, England). Urban District Council.
Date:
[1920?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/72 (page 9)
    9 We have worked in co-operation with Sister Alice, Matron of the Essex Training Centre for Midwives, and several of the Nurses attend the Clinic to assist with the patients and to receive teaching in abdominal examination, pelvic measurement, etc. My endeavour has been to advise expectant mothers about the con servation of their health and that of the unborn child, and to give simple advice about clothing, diet, etc. Patients with abnormal symptoms or signs are put under medical care. Several cases have been referred' to the Tuberculosis Dispensary with most satis factory results. One case of Hirschsprung's Disease, a rare condi tion and an extremely dangerous complication of pregnancy, was at my request successfully operated on by Mr. Loekhart Mummery. Two cases of generally contracted pelvis were sent to Queen Charlotte's Hospital for special obstetric treatment at child-birth. Several cases of Venereal Disease were sent to Venereal Disease Clinics for treatment, thus preventing miscarriage or early death of the child. One advantage of Ante-Natall Clinics is the opportunity they give for encouraging breast-feeding by instructing the mothers in the care of the nipples, the stimula tion of the milk supply by suitable diet, by education of the new-born infant, and by making the mother realise, that she may jeopardise her chance of nursing by the unwise administration of cow's milk or patent foods during the first two days of life. Such teaching is followed up by care of the baby when it is afterwards brought to the afternoon Baby Clinic. An investiga tion into 1,000 of the women attending our Leyton and Leyton stone Clinics, which was carried out by me, with the assistance of the Health Visitors, brought forth the fact that 5i4 pein cent. suckled all their babies, 14 per cent. reared all their children on the bottle, 10- per cent. nursed all but one, and 10 per cent. all but two of their family; the remaining 12 per cent. nuirsed all but three or four. Of the same group of women, 76 per cent. reared all their children, 18 per cent. all but one, 2 per cent. all but two, and 4 per cent. lost moire than two. I did not find that the death rate amongst bottle babies was much higher than that of breast fed babies, the proportion being—of 30 children who died, 12 were breast-fed and 18 were reared on the bottle. At the same time, the chief aim of our work is to encourage breast-feeding. My experience warrants me in saying that 90 per cent. of mothers can and should nurse their babies.