View report page

All attendances at the Ante-natal Clinics are by appointment,
by which means periods of waiting are reduced.
Ante-natal Clinics for those mothers attending the Beckenham
and Penge Joint Maternity Hospital are held at the Maternity Hospital
: for all other mothers they are held at the Borough Clinics at
the Town Hall and in Hawes Lane, West Wickham.
During 1947, 222 births were attended by Midwives, and 155 of
these mothers attended at the Clinics.
Ante-natal Panel Assistant Medical Officer
Sessions held 51 47
Number of expectant mothers attending 186 128
Number of attendances made 392 393
(b) Inspection of home conditions; advice as to general hygiene,
securing extra nourishment, provision of extra clothing, etc.
The Health Visitors pay visits to the homes of expectant mothers
nd assist in all these matters—except in the cases of those mothers
who have engaged the services of a medical practitioner.
2. Arrangements for the Confinement.
(a) Institutions. (b) Mothers' own homes.
(a) Institutions.
The Institutions within the Borough are:—
The Beckenham & Penge Joint Maternity Hospital.
Two private Nursing Homes, registered under the Public
Health Act, 1936.
The Beckenham Hospital which takes a few maternity cases
but only under certain special conditions.
The demand for institutional accommodation for confinements
has been steadily increasing for a number of years. This is shown by
the following figures:—
1935 56% of the births took place in Institutions.
1938 67% of the births took place in Institutions.
1945 79% of the births took place in Institutions.
1946 81% of the births took place in Institutions.
1947 80% of the births took place in Institutions.
The existing housing situation and the difficulty in securing
adequate help in the home undoubtedly contributed to the high
percentage of institutional births in recent years.
During 1947 the County midwives attended 177 cases as Midwives
and 45 as Maternity Nurses.
Home Helps.
The Council is empowered to engage suitable women to assist
in the housekeeping and domestic work of homes where the mother
is confined in her own home; in certain cases the Council pays all or
part of the fees for this attendance.
14