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The council's scheme for the provision of dentures to necessitous expectant and nursing mothers
has proved of great value. The scheme was very popular during the year and 90 mothers were
provided with dentures under it.
The council provided a sum of £250 in their estimates for the financial year 1935-36, but by
December this had been spent and a further sum of £50 was provided to meet outstanding applications.
A sum of £500 has been reserved in the estimates for 1937-38 for this service.
Midwifery Arrangements.
The maternity arrangements in the borough form a comprehensive scheme whereby complete
facilities are provided for both hospital and domiciliary care, and every woman is able to obtain
the services of a trained midwife at her confinement, irrespective of her financial means.
Ante-Natal Services.
The ante-natal clinic forms the co-ordinating mechanism of the council's scheme and brings
the patient into touch with the services which would be of benefit to her. Eleven ante-natal sessions
are held weekly, including an evening clinic to provide supervision and help for those women who
are obliged to work during the early months of pregnancy. One thousand one hundred and eightythree
expectant mothers attended the welfare centres during the year, with a total of 4,631 attendances
; at the evening clinic 48 sessions were held and 157 women attended, making 454
attendances, with an average attendance of 9-4 at each session. The total numbers attending the
council's ante-natal clinics during the year 1936 are therefore 1,340 individual mothers with 5,085
attendances; the corresponding numbers for 1935 were 1,120 and 4,402, and for 1934, 692 and
2,345. It is satisfactory to note this increase in the amount of work performed since the appointment
of the council's ante-natal medical officer.
In addition to the borough council's clinics, two ante-natal sessions are held weekly at the
Queen Charlotte's Hospital district ante-natal clinic at No. 240, Ladbroke Grove. One hundred
and two sessions were held during 1936, at which 570 women attended, 450 of these being from
Kensington. There are also ante-natal departments attached to all the London county council and
other hospitals serving the borough.
Full use is now being made of the ante-natal services provided by the council, and it is only in
very rare instances that a Kensington woman does not obtain ante-natal care. The attendances
at the hospital ante-natal departments and at the borough clinics represent approximately 82 per
cent, of the total Kensington births, which is a satisfactory figure since the above-standard cases,
who would be under the care of a private doctor or specialist, would cover the remaining 18 per cent.
The excellent co-operation between the borough council's clinics and the private doctors and
midwives, London county council and voluntary hospitals continues and is an essential factor in
the success of the maternity scheme.
Hospital Accommodation.
The hospital accommodation available for Kensington women is ample for the needs of the
borough, and no difficulty is experienced in obtaining admission to hospital for any woman who
requires it.
Kensington Maternity Home.
The borough council's maternity home of ten beds is conducted by Queen Charlotte's Hospital
at " Invermead," No. 341, Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush. It is a large house situated in pleasant
grounds, and in which the nervous young patient receives skilled obstetric care in the reassuring
surroundings of a private home. Women entering the home receive their ante-natal supervision
from the borough clinics, but are referred once to the home before confinement to be seen by one
of the honorary staff attached to Queen Charlotte's Hospital. The same consultant is in charge
of the post-natal clinic attached to the home.