View report page

work of the ante-natal clinic is, to a large measure, educational,
for which the practitioner has not the time,
nor in many cases the inclination, especially to deal with
large numbers. Administrative difficulties are multitudinous,
and the question of reasonable economy with
efficiency must be considered. The plea of continuity of
medical care can be met by interavailabilitv of records,
and the fact that two minds bearing on any problem is
better than one.
(c) Consultant Services. The Council's Consultant
Obstetrician is available for Ante-natal, Intra-natal and
Post-natal cases, but it is a fact that more use might
be made of his services. He was called into the Borough
on only two occasions during 1937. Many cases are referred
for an opinion to the London Maternity Hospitals,
but it will need to be considered whether these journeys
which cannot be too comfortable for a mother advanced
in pregnancy, should not be avoided bv arranging a
periodical clinic held in the Borough by the consultant
to which any difficult case may be referred, also
whether a further consultant might not be appointed,
who is on the staff of the City of London Maternity Hospital
with which institution the Council has an arrangement
for admission of difficult ante- or intra-natal cases.
(d) The provision of an Obstetrical Flying Squad as
suggested in the Circular is still receiving attention.
(e) Maternity Accommodation. With the provision
of the new Home, the arrangements with the City of
London Maternity Hospital and Queen Charlotte's Hospital
(for septic cases) and the availability of the County
Hospital, the Council has a complete scheme.
The growth of the Borough and surrounding are:is
may, in the near future, warrant a Maternity Hospital
and the new Home both in position, site and administrative
offices, is ideally fitted to form the nucleus of such
a hospital.
The use of the new Home has exceeded expectations,
and by December was booked to full capacity of use, and
since then it has been impossible to book other than residents
of the Borough, and now occasional applicants,
residents of the Borough, have to be refused admission.
Primarily a Home should be available for mothers having
their first baby, for mothers whose homes are unsuitable
for confinement, and mothers having other than
25