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29
Midwifery.— Miss Andrews, the Municipal Midwife, attended
122 confinements during 1927—a reduction of 31 on the figure
for the preceding year. This reduction was due largely to the
fact that Miss Andrews was absent for considerable periods on
account of illness. In addition, a good many of the poorer
families, ordinarily attended by the Municipal Midwife, were
allotted houses on the Coppett's Road Estate, where the services
of other midwives are available. Miss Andrews attended 64
ante-natal clinics during the year, and made 1,893 visits to the
homes of the mothers. Since the municipal midwife was first
appointed in 1922 she has attended 560 confinements.
During the year a sum of £208 15s. was received from women
attended by Miss Andrews, notwithstanding that a reduction of
fee was made in 43 cases.
Thirty women from Hornsey were admitted to the maternity
wards of the North Middlesex Hospital, at a total cost of £146 2s.
Towards this sum the mothers themselves contributed £112.
Centres.—The re-arrangement of the consultation hours at
the three centres has made it possible for special cases to be
seen at times other than during ordinary sessions. In the same
way more opportunities are now afforded for discussion of certain
aspects of the work with the various Health Visitors to the
benefit, not only of the centre staffs, but also of those attending
for advice. An endeavour has been made to reduce to reasonable
proportions the number of mothers and babies coming to a centre
on any one day. The best results are not achieved when, on
account of excessive attendances, adequate attention cannot be
given to individual cases either by the Medical Officer or by the
Health Visitor.
During the year 789 babies were brought to the centres for
the first time, and 1,764 babies made 12,889 attendances at the
centres. At the ante-natal consultations 285 expectant mothers
were seen for the first time and 596 attended as 'old cases.'
At Highgate Centre an attempt has been made to discover
the extent to which parents, who might be expected to bring their
babies to the centre, do in fact attend. Out of 544 babies
entered on the register as suitable for visiting under the