View report page

56
The Westminster Health Society provides midwifery services in St.
Margaret and St. John Wards, the western boundary of its area being
Vauxhall Bridge Road. The following table gives figures relating to
the work performed in this area during the year:—

Consultant Services for Complicated Cases of Midwifery.—The Council
has provided through the consulting staff of Westminster Hospital the
services by day and by night at the patient's home of an obstetrician of
consulting status. Those services are for necessitous cases, that is to say,
those who cannot ordinarily afford the services of a specialist. Any
medical practitioner, in doubt or difficulty, by telephoning to the hospital
(special telephone Victoria 7475) can have such skilled assistance,
which is also available to all mid wives practising in Westminster who
may require it. These services were utilized on three separate occasions
during the year.
Ante-natal Services.—There are seven ante-natal clinics in the City of
Westminster and at least two others within half a mile of the boundaries.
Three of those clinics are directly under the City Council's control at its
own centres, one at a voluntary centre, three in general hospitals in the
City and two at hospitals outside the City but in the vicinity.
While the nett number of births registered during the year was
1,021, the number of expectant mothers dealt with at the centres was 854;
that is to say, some 83.6 per cent, of the total cases, as compared with the
percentage of 75.7 for the previous year.
Cases were brought to the notice of the centres from the following
sources:—