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Preparation for Childbirth
There were 445 psychoprophylaxis and 456 mothercraft sessions
during 1969. Attendances at these classes, which were 3,251 and
3,353 respectively, showed an encouraging and increasing interest
by mothers in the facilities provided for them. In addition, 577
prospective parents attended the 43 parentcraft evening sessions.
Health Visitors also gave talks to 10 organisations outside the
Borough services, at which there were 274 attendances. Such work
is welcomed as it enables the health visitors' skills to be made
available to a wider audience than those of age groups which
normally attend clinics and who are visited as part of the daily
routine of these officers.
Selection of Women for Hospital Confinement
It is obvious that the number of emergency hospital admissions
can be reduced by the correct booking of place of confinement in
accordance with certain criteria. The following tables are included
to indicate the degree of success of the selections made in the
Greenwich area during 1969. They serve also as a reminder of the
need for persistent effort to ensure hospital delivery for women in
the high risk groups.
Of all women having their confinement at home in the Borough
having had 4 or more previous children, namely 58, almost one
quarter (14) were 35 years of age or more and clearly belonged to a
high risk category for whom delivery in a consultant maternity
department with full facilities is constantly urged.