[Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Dudley County Borough.
- Dudley (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1962
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Dudley County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![IS During the year it beeaine inereasing ly apparent that the funetion of the ante-natal elinies was ehanging. It was felt that it was no longer neeessary for doetors employed by the Department to be responsible for the medieal supervision of expeetant mothers when they were already under the eare of their own general practitioners. Arrangements were, therefore, made for the ante-natal clinics to be staffed by midwives only from the beginning of September. Special sessions were started at the Central and Dudley Wood Clinics, at which a medical officer was ])resent to take blood for routine investigation. During the last four months of the year the number of patients attending these elinies was 192. Only two general prac- titioners indicated that they did not wish these facilities to be ex- tended to their patients. Attendance at these elinies was by appoint- ment only. Following a general review of the arrangements for ante-natal care and elinie procedure, preliminary steps were taken to revise the system of bookings, appointments, referral for X-ray and dental treatment with the intention of bringing the new arrangements into effect early in 1968. Relaxation and mothereraft classes continued throughout the year in all ante-natal clinics. Many mothers expressed their ap- preciation of this service and comment on how much the instruetion received helped them during labour and in the care of their babies. The attendances at relaxation classes at the various elinies are shown below: Priory Clinic Central Clinic Holly Hall Clinic Dudley Wood 242 220 158 288 (b) (Tiki Welfare Children under 1 year Children between 1 and 5 years Total Attendances 1962 1961 1960 18,828 12.207 10,514 4,924 8,625 7.758 These figures indicate that an increasing number of mothers of children under one year are availing themselves of this service. The new “Firs” Central Clinic includes a modern well-ecpiipjied suite of rooms iu which the infant welfare elinie was held and during the year work was also })ut in hand with a view to using the Brewster Street School jiremises in Netherton as an infant welfare clinic as the facilities at the Netherton Art Centre are not ideally suited for this purpose. C'hildren who are likely to be at special risk receive a hearing- test at the age of 6—7 months. We now have seven health visitors specially trained in this work. All infants are tested at the age of six weeks for phenylketonuria, a rare eause of mental subnormality.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29171271_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
