[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Newport (Gwent) County Borough.
- Newport (Wales). County Council.
- Date:
- 1948
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Newport (Gwent) County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Since the 5th July mothers are finding it less expensive financially to have confinements in hospital than in their own homes, and some who pre- viously would not have ashed for hospital care are now demanding- it on account of this financial reason. It does seem a pity that a mother is l)enalised financially hy having' her confinement at home. I To the hospitals already overburdened Avitli patients, and con- sequenjtly having to discharge mothers on the 10th day after confinement or earlier, this increasinsr demand for maternity hospital care is a very serious problem. The earlier return to home duties from hospital, and the care of a small baby is a very great s'^rain on the mother. The majority of the mothers make preparations iir early pregnancy for their confinements, and this allows of more prolonged supervision of j their health and of their receiving earlier the extra ration allowances j granted by the Ministry of Food to expectant mothers, all of which ha.s i done much to improve tin-- health of the babies and of the mothers them- selves, and has prevented some of the complications which accompany labour. I’ Visiting in the homes by the Health Visitor is of very great import- ance, for there the difficulties of the individual mother are more easily j; understood and thias more helpful advice can be offered. I I I TJndeir the new Health Act the duties of the Health Visitor have been |i very considerably extended. She is now responsible not only for visit- , ing the mother and also of children under school age, but for after-care i visits to patients of all ages discharged from hospital and those under j medical care at home, nnd for visits to the aged. In all those visits her I work is co-ordinated with that of the nurses of the Home Nursing Scheme. J 1 At the preisent time there is a shortage of Health Visitors, and those j extra duties required of the Health Visitor mean that she has less time | to devote to visits to mothers a.nd to children under school age, but her follow up of after-care visits will do much to accelerate the return to health of the sick and in an indirect way may have a beneficial effect on thei health of the children. i For many of the mothers difficulties are still very g’reat—the housing i shortag'e, which necessitates sharing of homes and the rearing’ of children in cramped conditions with lack of proper washing and cooking facilities, I and where children have no space for ]ilay. and where the mother has to j restrain the children continually so that others in the home mii.y not be -j disturbed, is a very great strain on the mothers, and it is a great c-redit to i them that many of them are bringing up clean and healthy children under ] such difficult and distressing conditions. , f The employment of married women with young children is not in the interests of the young children, as the continuous care given by the motheir is so necessary in those early years.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28866897_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
