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14
Ravenscourt Park. For some time, the hospital has employed
midwives there for domiciliary confinements, and this organisation
has been utilized to cany out the provisions of the Midwives Act
1936, in our area.
Under Section 1, sub-section (2) the local supervising authority
had to submit to the Minister of Health- proposals for carrying out
its duties within a period of six months from the commencement
of the Act (31st July 1936) or such longer period as the Minister
may in any particular case allow. In our area the arrangement
did not come into force until 1st October, 1937, but the agreement
between the Middlesex County Council and the authorities of Queen
Charlotte's Hospital was not available to the local council at the
end of March 1938; so that, although at the present time the scheme
has been in operation for over six months, the local authority is
unaware of the exact provisions in the agreement between the
County Council and the authorities of Queen Charlotte's Hospital.
The Queen Charlotte's Hospital authorities have practically
a similar scheme in operation in Brentford and Chiswick, and the
midwives who attend the confinements for the two boroughs reside
in the same building.
The arrangements are working smoothly. Most of the confinements
are booked at the Borough Council's ante-natal clinic
which is attended by one or more of the midwives. The expectant
mother attends the local clinic if the conditions are normal and
satisfactory until the thirty-sixth week, when she attends the
Hospital Clinic at Ravenscourt Park.
As far as ante-natal work is concerned, a similar procedure
is carried out in respect of the expectant mothers who have made
arrangements for their confinement at the Central Middlesex
Hospital. In ordinary circumstances they attend our ante-natal
clinic during the earlier period of pregnancy, and later attend at
the ante-natal clinic at the Central Middlesex Hospital.
Formerly, we had a routine ante-natal clinic and a consulting
one; Dr. Bell had charge of the latter. The holding of
routine consulting clinic every fortnight became unnecessary by
these arrangements, whereby the ante-natal clinics at Ravenscourt
Park and the Ceneral Middlesex Hospital became the consulting
clinic for the great majority of the expectant mothers who attend
our ante-natal clinics.
The services of Dr. Bell are still retained for consultation
purposes in the case of those who are attended by private midwives
and doctors, and arrangements have been made for these expectant
mothers to be seen and examined by Dr. Bell at his Gynaecological
clinic at the Acton Hospital.