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The Midwives Act, 1902, which received the Royal
Assent on the 31st July, 1902, and comes into operation on the
Ist April, 1903, is, amongst other things, for regulating the practice
of midwives, to ensure that they shall be as cleanly as possible
in their own person, that the homes from which they come shall
be in a far cleaner state than many of them are found at the
present time, in order thereby to reduce, as far as possible, the
chance of infecting parturient women, with the particularly
dangerous disease, Puerperal Fever.
The Administration of the Act is left in the hands of every
Council of a County or County Borough throughout England and
Wales, who are to act as the Local Supervising Authority over
midwives within the area of such County or County Borough. A
County Council may also delegate, as they may think fit, any
powers or duties conferred on them by the Act to any District
Council within the County, and the provisions of this section
apply to the Administrative County of London in like manner as
if each Metropolitan Borough were a County District, and the
Borough Council were the District Council of that district. It
therefore appears that, for the Administrative County of London,
the Act provides that the County Council shall administer the
same, or may delegate this administration to the respective
Borough Councils.
As, in my opinion, for various reasons it seemed desirable
that the local administration of this Act should be in the hands of
the Borough Council, I reported to the Public Health Committee,
and suggested that the London County Council be asked to delegate
all its powers under the Act, in accordance with section 9 of
the same, to the Council of this Borough for the district of the
said Borough, which suggestion was adopted, and a request on