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29
General Remarks.
Expectant mothers continued to attend the ante-natal centres
in increasing numbers and with great regularity.
The principle adopted in previous years was maintained, the
clinics being kept strictly for those cases entering Woodlands or
hospital or being attended by midwives in their own homes. No
patient who was to be attended by her own doctor was allowed to
attend.
Any patient found to be suffering from any serious pathological
condition was referred to her own doctor or, in certain cases, to
hospital, a letter giving details of the condition present accompanying
the patient in either case. Letters were sent to midwives who
referred patients to the centres, and midwives were welcomed at
the clinics, the patient's ante-natal form being available for their
perusal.
Remarks on Pathological Conditions.
There were 41 cases of albuminuria of pregnancy and four
cases of severe toxæmia of pregnancy. Three of the latter were
immediately admitted to hospital and one to Woodlands. Three
responded well to treatment and the condition of mother and baby
was satisfactory. The fourth case responded well to treatment,
but the baby only lived 36 hours, and the mother died suddenly on
the tenth day from a pulmonary embolus, after having made up to
that time a good convalescence.
One case of colitis was admitted to Guy's Hospital for the
treatment of this condition before confinement.
There were five cases of ante-partum haemorrhage and one of
threatened miscarriage. One case was admitted to Woodlands and
one to York Road Lying-in Hospital. The remaining cases were
very slight and were treated in their own homes by their own
medical attendants.
Malpresentations were found in 31 cases. Thirteen of these
were corrected at the clinics, ten underwent spontaneous version,
and four were referred to Guy's Hospital for version.
Advantage is taken of the modern method of X-ray of any
patient in cases of doubtful presentation or of suspected multiple
pregnancy. In all 18 cases had an X-ray during the year.
One hundred and fifty-two patients had some form of dental
disease, caries, whether slight, moderate or severe, gingivitis and