§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on 6 July, Official Report, column 346, if he will commend to health authorities the provision of crèche facilities for children of women attending antenatal clinics.
§ Mr. John PattenThe advice of the maternity services advisory committee in its first report—on antenatal care—is that in antenatal clincs
There should be an area for young children to play under supervision while their mother is being seen".We have commended the report to health authorities for them to consider what action can and should be taken locally.
§ Mr. Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on 6 July, Official Report, column 346, how many pregnant women attend antenatal classes run by their general practitioners and how many women attend antenatal classes run by voluntary organisations; and, if the information is not available, if he will estimate how much it would cost to obtain.
§ Mr. John PattenThis information is not held centrally. It would cost the Department several hundred pounds to write to health authorities and voluntary bodies to ask for such information, but the major cost of collection would be within health authorities and voluntary bodies and that cost would depend on how or if they held the necessary data.