November 16, 1915-November 15, 1916 In every way this past year has been the best in the history of the Association-in membership, in finances, and in influence. MEMBERSHIP As a result of the work of the two committees on increased membership -the general committee, Dr. Van Ingen, Chairman, and the local committee, Dr. Myers, Chairman-290 new members were enrolled during the eleven months which closed with the Milwaukee meeting; of these, 94 are in Wisconsin. The total paid-up membership for 1916 is 1,110, and 107 in advance for 1917, as compared with 806 total in 1915, and 163 in advance. Thirty-three new affiliated societies have been added; the total paid up during the year being 143. Sixty-one have submitted reports of the year's work, and fifty-four sent posters or banners descriptive of their activities, to the annual meeting. FINANCES The total receipts from all sources have amounted to $10,293.70. Of this amount $6,422.45 came in from membership dues. The disbursements have amounted to $7,187.51. BABY WEEK CELEBRATIONS Unusual opportunities for reaching small towns and communities more or less remote from the larger centers in which infant welfare work is well under way, were afforded by baby week celebrations during the winter and early spring of 1916. Special correspondence of this sort brought the office in touch with individuals or groups of workers in forty-three States, representing 250 communities. For many of these opportunities we are indebted to the Children's Bureau, and to the announcements made in the publications of the Bureau, of information that could be obtained from our Association. We are indebted also to the U. S. Public Health Service for advice and for the cordial and generous response that has been made to the requests forwarded from the office for booklets on the Care of the Baby. The total number distributed in this way, during the year, has amounted to more than 90,000 copies. In a number of instances it has been possible to extend the influence of the Association through our relations with other organizations. The Southern Sociological Congress, for instance, is utilizing one of our parcel post exhibits in a series of conferences that will cover the larger towns in eight or ten of the Southern States. These conferences began in September, 1916, and will continue during the winter of 1917. EXHIBITS The parcel post exhibit referred to above, was assembled last Spring in response to the pressing need for a compact and easily portable exhibit adaptable for use in the smaller towns and communities that could not afford the expense of handling the general travelling exhibit. The parcel post exhibit is a photographic reproduction of the general travelling exhibit. It consists of 20 panels, mounted on muslin and unframed, so that they can be readily rolled. The total weight including the packing case is about sixteen pounds. The exhibit was tried out experimentally, but soon proved a decided success one health officer in Virginia who had it for a week last spring wanted it again for another week this fall. A charge of ten dollars a week was made for its use, and by July the fund accruing from the rentals had covered the original cost of the exhibit. A second exhibit was then ordered for general engagements, and number 1 was released for engagements for which there would be no financial return. The general exhibit was shown last spring in Elizabeth, N. J., in connection with a Baby Week celebration; later in Wilkes-Barre; in May in Milwaukee, and in June in Hamilton, Ontario, where it was used by one of our Canadian affiliated societies. It was brought back to Milwaukee for the annual meeting. The Association also owns a set of lantern slides based upon the travelling exhibit. For the convenience of speakers at Baby Week celebrations or at Baby Health Conferences a selection was made of fifty of the slides. In addition to the collection that has been sent out from the executive office, reproductions have been put on the market by the Educational Exhibition Company. FORMULATION OF AUTHORITATIVE STATEMENTS SUGGESTED Inquiries received at the office, recently, indicate the demand for an authoritative statement of the procedure to be followed in infant and maternal welfare work. A few selected at random will illustrate this point. From the organizer of health conferences for the State Department of Health of a Middle-Western State, for suggestions as to state-wide plans for infant and maternal welfare. From a children's specialist from a city on the Pacific Coast for information regarding the methods that have been successful in the Eastern cities. From the editor of a mother's page in a popular magazine, as to ways by which she could help her subscribers specifically, and the cause of the baby, generally. The majority of the magazine's readers live in the rural districts, and because of their distance from medical centers or physicians, the editor wrote that it was impracticable to tell them to consult a doctor when general advice was desired in regard to the health of the children in the family. When it was suggested that she refer her readers to the Division of Child Hygiene in the State Department of Health, the fact had to be faced that only four States, so far, have established such Divisions. From the director of an University Extension Institute in Colorado for material for distribution to mothers at the institutes to be held in small towns in that State. From a recently organized welfare society in a California city for information as to the best way of coordinating the work of the various infant welfare agencies. Inquiries of this kind are a part of the every day mail and usually can be answered by drawing upon information that is readily accessible, but in view of the fact that the campaign for the prevention of infant mortality has gone far enough beyond the experimental stage for the essential features to be well established, I would suggest that a definite statement be formulated embodying these principles and containing practical suggestions for their application, and that steps be taken to place such information at the service of any who may desire it. In formulating these suggested plans the following groups should receive special consideration. Baby and maternal welfare societies, financed by private philanthropy in the small cities and towns, and particularly in the rural districts. Semi-public organizations analogous to the Babies' Welfare Associations of New York and Philadelphia, which coordinate the work of local activities. Divisions of Child Hygiene in the small cities. Divisions of Child Hygiene in State Departments of Health. NEEDS OF THE MOTHER OF MODERATE MEANS There is also urgent need for the working out of plans which will open the way so that the intelligent young mother of moderate means may have the benefit of advice and training, such as the mother in very poor circumstances can get with the greatest ease, in the majority of the larger cities, by going to the nearest feeding clinic, or, by taking advantage of the teaching that is given in some of the continuation schools. As the organized infant welfare work is carried on at present, the young mother of moderate means is almost completely disregarded. PROGRESS SHOWN BY REPORTS OF AFFILIATED SOCIETIES Reports received during the last month from some of the affiliated organizations are more than ordinarily significant of the progress that is being made by the infant welfare societies and of the way in which they are adapting themselves to the needs of their respective communities. The State-wide plan that is being tried in North Carolina is described by Dr. W. C. Rankin, Secretary of the State Board of Health, reporting for his Department which is affiliated with this Association. The plan includes: a. Preliminary survey by the State of two county units for the Children's Bureau to determine the basis for a county unit plan. When put into effect this will be analogous to the county unit plan followed in the general health work of the State and will be financed by the county and State jointly. b. The customary activities for the control and reduction of children's diseases throughout the State. C. A summer school for practitioners, at which courses in pediatrics titioners attended. It is planned to give a similar course in obstetrics A city-wide plan is outlined in the joint report from the Cleveland Department of Health and the Babies' Dispensary. Incidentally it is interesting to note that the establishment of a Bureau of Health instruction in connection with the Department of Health is mentioned, in the report, as one of the advances made during the current year. The possibilities of the coordination of the work of the public and private agencies are convincingly indicated in the reports of the Philadelphia and New York Babies' Welfare Associations. Among the items mentioned in the Philadelphia report is the fact that through the efforts of the Philadelphia Association the Pennsylvania State Board of Examiners for Registration of Nurses has included in the curriculum recently presented to the Training Schools in Pennsylvania a recommendation that social service work be given nurses while in training. Follow-up care of patients discharged from the maternity hospitals is mentioned as one of the advances brought about during the year by the New York Babies' Welfare Association. STATEMENTS OF CLERICAL WORK AND MEMBERSHIP A report of the clerical work at the office and a statement showing the geographical distribution of the membership are appended to this report. |