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I am indebted to Dr. Rickards for the following report on the
Maternity Clinics:—
"With the rising birth rate the volume of work undertaken at
the ante-natal clinics shows a corresponding increase, and the two
additional weekly sessions sanctioned by the Committee have been
of the utmost value to the service.
During 1942 an increase of 784 patients attended the clinics,
the numbers being at the Chestnuts 1,041 in 1942, compared with
616 in 1941, at Lordship Lane 697, compared with 468, and at
Park Lane 482, compared with 352. There has also been an increase
in post-natal patients.
I believe this figure represents a record in the percentage of the
maternal population attending.
Throughout the year the health visitors and midwives have
been most conscientious in their assistance with this vast increase
in the work, and there has been co-operation throughout the service.
The Mothers' Hospital, Clapton, and the North Middlesex
Hospital continue to work closely with the clinics and are most
helpful in admitting abnormalities—486 patients have been
evacuated under the L.C.C. scheme.
It is gratifying to find with an increased birth rate a reduction
in the number of still births. This may be due, in part, to experiments
which have been carried out with Wheat Germ oil. This
preparation has been given to all mothers with a history of miscarriages
and premature births, and though sufficient patients
have not been treated to make a convincing case, some remarkable
results have been recorded."