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to their means. The fee of the general practitioner is usually
about two guineas and that of the midwife 25s. to 35s., while the
handy woman makes a charge of anything up to 15s. or £1, if she
can get it. It should be borne in mind that the midwife will not
do and should not be expected to do, housework, cleaning and
cooking.
If, therefore, a mother desires to have her baby born at home
she may book up with a doctor and employ an unqualified handy
woman as nurse, for the simple reason that to pay a doctor and a
qualified nurse is more than she can afford, seeing that she is
bound to have some kind of help in the home as well. It thus
comes about that the handy woman may usurp the function of the
maternity nurse to the detriment of the security of both mother
and baby.
I feel sure the Committee will agree that while a "home help"
is necessary, a woman so employed should not be allowed to act
as a nurse in any fashion whatsoever. In order to eliminate
such unqualified practice and to provide a qualified nurse for
every confinement case I beg to submit the following suggestions:
(1) That the authorities of Guy's Hospital be asked to
make it a rule that every confinement dealt with
under the Charity shall be attended by a maternity
nurse as well as by a student.
(2) That the fees of approved midwives (whether practising
as midwives or as maternity nurses) charged for
attending residents in the Borough should be paid
by the Borough Council. This payment of fees
would apply also to maternity nurses employed by
Guy's Hospital as suggested above, if the Hospital
authorities agree to the suggestion.
Taking the annual number of births as 2,000 the payment of
midwives' fees would involve a maximum additional annual expenditure
of £2,500 if the fee were 25s. or £3,500 if the fee were
35s. less any grant received from the Ministry if the scheme is
approved.