Mother and baby health centres and services

Unique IDAY-0122DescriptionEstablishment, management and provision of services, (through care centres from 1945), to mothers and infants.

On 15 January 1901, a Special Committee of Council recommended the appointment of a Lady Sanitary Inspector, and Miss Marjorie K Jarrett was selected. [CRS 9/5]. However, the State Board of Health refused to accept the nomination because of her youth. [Town Clerk's Report 1901]. On 27 May 1902 Council did manage to appoint Miss M E Ferguson as its first Lady Sanitary Inspector. Part of her duties involved visiting dwellings where infantile deaths had occurred from "diarrhoea, or in other ways, and advising housewives as to the sanitary maintenance of their dwellings". [Town Clerk's Report 1902]. "From this the practice developed of visiting mothers with newborn babies in the city to offer advice on basic hygiene and breastfeeding". (Shirley Fitzgerald, Sydney 1842 - 1992, page 219.)

The administrative origins for providing this service through mothers and baby health centres appear to have arisen from an inter-war initiative by the City Health Officer to promote breastfeeding for infants, as a means of ensuring healthier children and possibly to avoid disease and other problems associated with the available town milk supply.CreationOn 15 January 1901 a special Committee approved the appointment of a Lady Sanitary Inspector [CRS 9/5]. Council File CRS 34: TC 1396/44 refers to an agreement with the NSW Health Dept to build and staff Baby Health Centres, but the City Health Officer had mounted initiatives in this area before 1939.

Series

Cultural and Community Services Committee Agenda Papers

City Planning Department Negatives

Town Clerk's Department Correspondence Files [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]

Town Clerk's Correspondence Folders

Minutes of the Health and Recreations Committee

Minutes of the Finance Committee I [Municipal Council of Sydney]

Minutes of Special Committees [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]

Minutes of Council [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]

Description

Start date15th January 1901End date15th January 1901Relationship legacy dataRELATED TO: Public health FN-0012 (15/01/1901)
RELATED TO: Community services and facilities FN-0013 (15/01/1901)

Identification

Source system ID122

Relationships

FunctionCommunity services and facilitiesPublic health

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Mother and baby health centres and services