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Maternity and Child Welfare. 73
Every woman applying for assistance is required to submit
a statement giving the details of her family income, and the amount
of assistance to be granted is fixed by a Sub-committee of the
Maternity and Child Welfare Committee. The maximum grants
payable are:—
£1 15s. 0d. to a midwife conducting a confinement at home.
£1 0s. 0d. to a midwife assisting a doctor in a home confinement.
Before assistance is granted, the following conditions must
be complied with:—
1. The home conditions must be suitable for a confinement
to take place there.
2. The midwife must be registered by the Central
Midwives Board.
3. When conducting the confinement herself, the midwife
must give her patient adequate ante-natal supervision
and must arrange for the woman to be examined by the
Medical Officer of one of the Council's ante-natal clinics early
in pregnancy and also at a later stage.
4. No unsuitable handywoman must be employed.
5. If a handywoman is in attendance, the widwife must
not allow her to examine the patient, to undertake any nursing
duties or to bathe the infant. It was also decided that
sterilized maternity outfits should be supplied to a midwife
by the Council when they are required.
The Council has also decided to pay compensation to a midwife
who loses her case because the women who had booked her,
has to enter hospital for the confinement. The usual sum paid
in compensation is 10/-. The following conditions are required
to be satisfied before compensation is payable:—
1. The patient is required to confirm the statements
that she had engaged the midwife to attend the confinement
and had been referred by the midwife to the ante-natal clinic.
2. The Medical Officer of the clinic must certify that it is
necessary for the woman to be confined in an institution.