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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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127
MATERNAL CARE.
Maternal care comprises ante-natal care, care at the confinement and post-natal care.
It is generally agreed that early systematic and thorough ante-natal care is the most important
of all means to be taken towards the redaction of maternal mortality.
It will be seen from the following Table VII., supplied by the Registrar-General, that
7 deaths were primarily classified as due to childbirth, and that 4 deaths were classified as
being associated with pregnancy but not attributable thereto. The puerperal maternal
mortality rate (deaths primarily classified to childbirth per 1000 births live and still) for 1936
was accordingly 2'8.
Table VII.
Maternal Mortality in Borough of St. Pancras in 1936.
| AGES. | CONDOTIONS. | WARDS. | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-20 years. | 20-25 years. | 25-30 years. | 30-35 years. | 35-40 years. | 40-45 years. | 45 years. | Married. | Single. | Widowed. | I. | II. | III. | IV. | V. | VI. | VII. | VIII. | No Address | |
| Post abortive sepsis | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | |
| Puerperal septicaemia | — | 1 | — | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | |
| Other accidents of childbirth | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Carcinoma of uterus | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | —— |
| Myoma of uterus | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | —- | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Abnormality of blood pressure | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| Acute intestinal obstruction | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Ministry of Health Circular No. 1433.
On receipt of this circular in 1935 it was decided that the large number of Hospitals
in and around the Borough undertaking midwifery work made it necessary to ascertain what
was actually taking place in regard to ante-natal care before definite proposals were formulated
as required in this circular. With this object an inquiry into some 1900 cases was undertaken.
This was completed during the year here considered, and the following report was
presented:—
16th March, 1936.
To the Chairman and Members of the
Public Health Committee.
Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Maternal Mortality—Ministry of Health Circular 1433.
This circular, which is dated 10th October, 1934, contains a request to L,ocal Authorities to
review their schemes for maternal care in the light of the suggestions contained in the Ministry
of Health Memorandum 156/M.C.W. issued in December, 1930.
In St. Pancras consideration of this question is complicated by the fact that a large proportion
of confinements take place in public institutions, many of which make arrangements of
their own for ante-natal examinations.