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37
DOMICILIARY MIDWIFERY SERVICE
No change has been made in the organisation of this important service which,
since its inception in 1938, has been administered from County Hall. The desirability
of continuing this centralisation or of transferring the work to the nine divisional
offices is kept under constant review.
During 1948, there was a drop in the high birth rate that had been the feature of
the two previous years. This was reflected in the number of confinements taken by
the Council's midwives as shown in the following table:—
Year Maternity nursing cases Midwifery cases Total
1945 440 6,427 6,867
1946 805 10,834 11,639
1947 899 12,025 12,924
1948 630 9,533 10,163
Of the confinements during 1948, 1,893 were primigravidæ and 8,270 multigravidæ.
Women booked by the Council's midwives but who were admitted to
hospital before confinement suffering from toxaemia, ante-partum haemorrhage, etc.,
are not included in the foregoing figures.
The number of midwives employed at the end of the year was 155, compared with
158 at the end of 1947 and 148 at the end of 1946. The average number of midwives
employed throughout the year (permanent and temporary) was 158 compared with
160 in 1947. The average number of confinements undertaken by each midwife,
including sick and holiday reliefs, was approximately 65, compared with 81 in 1947.
The Midwives Salaries Committee (Rushcliffe) recommended that each midwife
should attend not more than 66 confinements a year under favourable conditions, and
it is a matter of satisfaction that the extreme pressure of work on the midwives
relaxed during 1948.
Seven part-time midwives were employed during 1948 for periods ranging from
1 to 190 days to assist in the nursing of mothers during periods when the Council's
midwives were absent on annual or sick leave.
Ambulance cars for the transport of midwives were supplied in emergency,
particularly at night, and 15,523 miles were run on this service, compared with
20,360 miles in 1947.
London
County
Council
Midwives
The number of confinements taken by the district nursing association and
hospital district midwives in the domiciliary midwifery scheme showed a similar
decline owing to the fall in the birth rate.
Year 1947 Maternity nursing cases Midwifery cases Total Grand Total
Hospital district service 169 6,525 6,694
District nursing associations 390 3,716 4,106
10,800
1948
Hospital district service 116 5,095 5,211
District nursing associations 2902,940 3,230
8,441
The number of midwives employed on 31st December, 1948 was:
Supervisory Midwives
Hospital district service 25 68
District nursing associations 24 31
There was also a small number of part-time midwives, and some of the full-time
staff of district nursing associations do part-time midwifery and part-time home
nursing.
Agency
Organisations
The chief developments in the work of the Council's midwives during the year
were the increase in the number of midwives holding ante-natal sessions at maternity
and child welfare centres, and the advance made in the use of gas and air analgesia,
Developments
in
1948