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General Practitioner Maternity Unit
In May 1967, it was proposed by the Consultant Obstetrician at
St, Mary Abbot's Hospital, that a small unit should be opened within
the hospital, where women could be admitted for delivery by their
general practitioner obstetricians.
Following negotiations between this Council and the hospital
authorities, it was agreed that the Council's midwives would also
participate in this scheme and would attend and deliver their own
patients in the Unit, working with the general practitioners in the
same way.
The general practitioner unit,, a five bedded ward with a labour
room attached to the maternity department of the hospital, is intended
only for those patients who are medically and obstetrically normal and
who are expected to have a normal confinement. Women who wish to be
confined in the Unit are requested to attend the hospital ante-natal
clinic early in pregnancy. If considered suitable,, they are booked
and then referred back to their own doctors and midwives for ante-natal
care. A further visit is made to the hospital clinic at the thirtysixth
week of pregnancy.
Delivery and after care of the patients in the Unit is the
responsibility of the general practitioner and midwife, the hospital
supplying only such attention and service as would be provided at home
by the patient's relatives, friends or "home help". It was intended
that the length of stay in the Unit should be four to five days, but
this is varied to suit special needs.
The Unit was opened in September 1967 and four cases were
attended there by this Council's midwives during the last quarter of
the year.
It is not yet possible to assess how great a part such a Unit
might be expected to play in the maternity services of the future,
but it is obvious that it holds advantages for all concerned. It