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

  • Twickenham (London, England). Borough Council.
Date:
[1957]
Catalogue details

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

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

    14/58 (page 12)
    Some people claim to possess the gift of omniscience; but most of us are mort humble mortals who try to learn all we can when, where, and how we can, and it is a good thing to begin early. Mrs. Harper, the Matron of Gifford Lodge Day Nursery, sends me a report about the training we give to girl guides who train for the Child Nurse badge. She says that following the training course a girl guide attends the nursery for two days in order to pass her test for the Child Nurse badge. I expect a guide entering for this badge to have a high stanadrd of personal cleanliness, a sense of responsibility and capable of taking charge of a child between the age of three to five, for any period of the day. I try to make the test as straight-forward as possible, and the girl feel comfortable and at home. I observe her for periods during the two days on how to wash a child before and after meals; how to manage the toilet, how to serve a meal; how to put him to bed; set out suitable play material and keep him generally amused; how to tell a story. I follow this at the end of the second afternoon by asking her questions about how a child should be clothed in summer and winter; what food is suitable for him; the different kinds of toys and material and how to im provise with everyday articles such as cotton-reels and cartons; how to prevent accidents in the house and garden; how to take his temperature. By this time, if I pass her as a Child Nurse, I am confident that she can go home and look after her young brothers and sisters and no harm can come to them. I wonder how many mothers could pass this test. Nowadays most of the women's magazines print articles on child welfare. The clinics are always packed with mothers seeking information. There is no end to the demand for good advice. I wish child welfare or health could be made a subject in the General Certificate of Education examination. I guess it would be more use to our girls (and boys) than French. THE MUDDLE OF THE MATERNITY SERVICES The Growth of the Clinics After the First World War ended in 1918 there was widespread recognition of the very great need for filling in the gap of the medical services for women and children. Since the introduction of the National Health Service Act in 1948, when most medical services are free or nearly so, we tend to forget that before this happy era they had to be paid for by the patients. In many parts of the country there was widespread alarm about the number of women who died in childbirth, and the appalling amount of illness and death amongst babies and young children. Hence the government encouraged local authorities to set up their maternity and child welfare clinics; between the two wars they grew up and spread to all parts of the country. The Midwives In those days most confinements were done by midwives, but some general practitioners also did so for fees. There was a scheme then, as indeed still, where a midwife could call in to aid a woman in childbirth, a practitioner whose fees were guaranteed by the local authority. Up to 1948 the vast majority of the ante¬ 12