The Work of Maternity and Infant Welfare Centres
1926-01 1926 1920s 7 pages - 2 - (121b) The value of all this work is shown in the number of fine babies connected with the Centres, many of whom have been puny and delicate to begin with, and in the increasing number of grateful mothers, whose interest has been intelligently quickened, and whose r...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
January 1926
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/84E1D91A-35E1-450D-B34D-D813AB37260E http://hdl.handle.net/10796/C0490833-FC14-4486-B689-A8CB900A6C01 |
| Summary: | 1926-01
1926
1920s
7 pages
- 2 - (121b) The value of all this work is shown in the number of fine babies connected with the Centres, many of whom have been puny and delicate to begin with, and in the increasing number of grateful mothers, whose interest has been intelligently quickened, and whose responsibility has been shared by doctor and nurse. The "Schools for Mothers" originally started by the philanthropists with voluntary money, have now developed into a public health service, with many ramifications. During these years of expansion it is noteworthy that the Infant Mortality Rate has fallen by 50 per cent. While other factors have undoubtedly contributed to this result, a great part of the achievement must be traced to the Centres. This is a pleasant and congratulatory picture of progress, to which, however, there is a reverse side. Shortly reviewed by statistics the growth of the work is shown as follows. The first voluntary centre to hold medical consultations was the St. Marylebone Health Society in 1906, and the St. Pancras "School for Mothers" - also voluntary - opened in 1907. In 1910 there were 90 centres in different parts of the country, and in 1914 the number had risen to 400. The war gave a great impetus to the movement, the Maternity and Child Welfare Act of 1918 consolidated the work, and in 1919 it was removed from the control of the Board of Education to the newly constituted Ministry of Health, of which Ministry it now forms an important section. Such pioneers as the late Mr. Benjamin Broadbent and Dr. Eric Pritchard - and the various voluntary societies for propaganda, viz. the National League for Health, Maternity and Child Welfare, the National Association for Prevention of Infant Mortality, the National Baby Week Council, and kindred societies, - have made this rapid progress possible.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |