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Domiciliary midwifery service
The number of home confinements attended by the domiciliary
midwives continues to decline.
There were 252 home confinements this year as against 347
in 1971, but the number of patients delivered by the domiciliary
midwives in the general practitioner obstetric unit at the Weir
Hospital has increased from 87 in 1971 to 92 in 1972.
The early discharge scheme has continued; all hospitals
offering maternity service to the residents of Wandsworth now
use this service and all mothers attending the maternity departments
of hospitals are made aware of this service. A total
of 834 patients have been nursed in their own homes
following hospital confinements and it says much for the
reputation of the domiciliary midwives that the majority of
mothers using the early discharge scheme have elected to do so.
The close co-operation with St.George's Hospital, Tooting,
has continued. In April it was arranged with St.James' Hospital,
Balham, that a midwife would attend the two ante-natal clinics
held each week to be available for consultation with the staff of
the clinic and those patients requesting early discharge after
confinement. This close co-operation between the hospital and
the community staff ensures a full exchange of information and
continuity in the care of the patient.
The midwives have taken 924 blood specimens for the Guthrie
test.
Mothers attended in their own homes during the year were as
follows:-