[Report 1938] / Medical Officer of Health, Buckinghamshire County Council.

  • Buckinghamshire (England). County Council. n 50052973.
Date:
1938
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1938] / Medical Officer of Health, Buckinghamshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    27/46 (page 21)
    Health Visiting.—The County Council employs ten whole-time Health Visitors ami by arrangements with Voluntary Nursing Associations is qnabled to have the services of 80 District Nurses. The number of visits paid during the year by all Health Visitors is as follows:— (u) To expectant mothers first visits 2,110—total visits 11,579. (5) To children under 1 year of age, first visits 2,303—total visits 12,197. (f) To children between the ages of 1 and 5 years—total visits 22,162. Ante-Natal Centues.—At Lane End and Chesham where ante-natal sessions are held prior to the ordinary infant welfare sessions the work continues to be carried on satisfactorily. At Aylesbury and Slough special sessions are held on premises owned or leased by the County Council. The total number of expectant mothers who attended the clinics was 402 (compared with 553 in 1937), while the total number of attendances made by such mothers was 909. 102 expectant mothers attended an ante-natal clinic, 11.4 per cent, of the total births notified. There is a slight decrease in the number of ante-natal visits paid by district nurse midwives to their patients, the total number for 1938 being 14,579 as compared with 14,770 in 1937. Milk Assistance.—The demands upon this service continued to grow. During the year 136 expectant and 234 nursing mothers were supplied with either cow’s milk or dried milk as compared with 88 and 163 mothers respectively in the previous year. Free supplies for infants up to the age of five years increased from 146 in 1937 to 288 in 1938. The total number of cases assisted during each of the last three years is as follows:—1936, 274; 1937, 397; 1938, 658. Dental Treiatment op Expectant and Nursing Mothers.—As reported last year, the dental treatment of expectant and nursing mothers and infants up to five years of age continued to be carried out by private dental practitioners, whose charges for the work are based upon lines similar to the dental benefit) provided by Approved Societies under the National Health Insurance Act. The County Council bears one half of the cost and the recipient of treatment the other half. One hundred and thirty-three mothers and 10 infants obtained this benefit during the year, a total of 143 cases as compared with 122 in 1937. It is unfortunate that the teeth of many expectant mothers are in a very poor condition, many of the teeth having gone far beyond the stage when it is possible to fill them. It is hoped that the improved care of the diet of young infants and the present excellent school dental service will result in much better de/ntal standard in the expectant mothers of the future. Meanwhile the present scheme of treatment does good service. Maternity Beds.—Under the auspices of the Public Health Committee, 128 cases were admitted in 1938 as compared with 142 in the previous year, and the following table shows the number of cases admitted to Institutions, etc. No. of eases Institution. admitted. Mid Bucks Maternity Home 30 The Biadcliffe Infirmary, Oxford 37 Bedford County Hospital 7 The Grange, High Wycombe 1 Maternity Home, Slough 13 Barrett Maternity Home, Northampton 35 Royal Berkshire Hospital 5 128