Maternity : a film of Queen Charlotte's Hospital.

Date:
[1932]
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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

Maternity : a film of Queen Charlotte's Hospital. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

This historically interesting film depicts ante-natal and post-natal care in the 1930s before the inception of the National Health Service in 1948. Infant and maternal mortality was a concern - this film shows how Queen Charlotte's hospital tackled the problems. Scenes are dramatised of an emergency birth at home as well as scenes within the hospital depicting training and babycare. 4 segments.

Publication/Creation

[Place of publication not identified], s.n.], [1932]

Physical description

1 encoded moving image (14:20 mins) : silent; black and white

Duration

00:14:20

Copyright note

The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

Terms of use

Unrestricted
CC-BY-NC
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Language note

English.

Creator/production credits

Presented by Personal Films.

Contents

Segment 1 Intertitles: 'Part 1 To Mary wife of John Brown a son', the intertitle tells us 'we begin where most films end'. A young couple on a park bench are seen together in a scenario familiar to cinema goers of the 1920s and 1930s; the young man places a wedding ring on the young woman's finger. Horses and sheep with their young are then seen. Intertitle: 'The work of the district nurses homes'. A large building is shown. Intertitle: 'A house in the district that had seen better days'. A rather dingy looking building is seen and then a girl runs through the door. She races to the district nurses' office where two women are summoned. They arrive post-haste on bicycles. Four younger children are then sent out from the house. One of the nurses leaves the building and is seen using a public telephone box. Through a series of shots of the district nurse and the recipient of her call, a male doctor, we are made aware of the emergency. The children are not permitted to return inside the house when the nurse returns, the doctor follows carrying a black Gladstone bag. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:04:08:12 Length: 00:04:08:12
Segment 2 Intertitle: 'This is a very complicated case Sister would you please ring up Dr Jones at Harley Street'. The doctor is summoned and arrives in a motor car of the period with his driver (lots of children look on). There are a few shots inside the house where it is suggested time passes. The front door remains closed with the younger children on the steps down to the street. A new born baby crying is seen followed by the nurse and an intertitle: 'It's a boy'. The male doctors are seen leaving and the nurse beckons the younger children in. Time start: 00:04:08:12 Time end: 00:06:15:05 Length: 00:02:06:18
Segment 3 Intertitle: 'When advised by the doctor the mother has her baby in hospital'. A nurse is seen welcoming a mother-to-be as she arrives at the hospital. Intertitle: 'Labour ward through the patients eyes'. There are point-of-view shots of the bed and anaesthetic equipment next to the bed. A masked nurse and doctor lean over and the picture goes out of focus, then is polarised before it goes completely black (this is to simulate unconsciousness). The new mother is then seen holding her baby in bed. Intertitle: 'No unmarried mother is refused'. Intertitle: 'Queen Charlottes means healthy mothers and healthy babies'. Next there are a number of shots of healthy small babies and toddlers. Time start: 00:06:15:05 Time end: 00:09:41:01 Length: 00:03:25:21
Segment 4 Intertitle: 'Not all are so fortunate'. There are bleak shots of grave stones together with a clock pendulum swinging. Intertitle: 'In Britain every two hours a woman dies in childbirth' . The mortality rates are shown to be as a result of streptoccoci bacteria infection known as puerperal sepsis or childbed fever. Intertitle: 'Proper antenatal care thorough teaching of midwives and students, research'. Ante-natal care is now shown at Queen Charlotte's. A mother-to-be sees the 'almoner' before she is booked in. Her blood pressure is tested and she is examined. There is a scene where nurses and doctors are shown being trained. Instruction is given on a life-like doll about handling a baby - which is suddenly dropped on the floor! Time start: 00:09:41:01 Time end: 00:14:20:00 Length: 00:04:38:24

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