View report page

65
Compensation to Midwives.
The Council compensates private midwives, other than those
attached to the District Nursing Associations, Maternity Homes or
Hospitals, for loss of cases referred by the Ante-natal Clinics to
hospital for confinement, at the rate of 10s. 6d. per case, subject to
the following conditions:—(a) the patient is required to confirm the
statement that she had engaged the midwife to attend her confinement
and had been referred by the midwife to the clinic; (b) the Medical
Officer of the clinic certifies that she advised the patient to be confined
in a Hospital or Home; (c) no payment is made to the midwife where
the patient herself has applied to be confined in a Hospital or Home.
No request for compensation was received in 1937.
Maternal Mortality and Morbidity.
Three women died in consequence of child-birth during 1937.
This represents a maternal mortality rate of 3 per 1,000 births as
compared with 2.9 and 1.0 for the preceding two years.
On the 22nd July, 1937, the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee
reported that they had had under consideration the Circular 1622
of the Ministry of Health, dated 7th May, 1937, upon the subject of
Maternal Mortality, drawing attention to the Report (Cmd. 5422) on
Maternal Mortality, which Report was the outcome of the special
investigations into maternal mortality; and in particular to Section IX
of the Report, which set out the essential elements of an efficient
Maternity service, and the recommendations in Section X; submitting
observations upon the more important of the recommendations and
asking that consideration might be given to the Report and suggestions
made in the Circular, and that the Minister might be informed of the
action to be taken.
The Circular drew particular attention to certain aspects of the
work in this connection, and the following observations of the Committee
were adopted by the Council:—
(i) The importance of Team work.
There is at present a vacancy on the Committee for a co-opted member,
and they are of opinion that the general medical practitioners who
attend Hampstead residents should be represented, and they have
obtained the nomination of Dr. Isobel Finlayson, of 13, Shoot-up
Hill, who is willing to serve upon the Committee. (Dr. Finlayson
was accordingly appointed by the Council to the Committee as a
co-opted member.)