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In addition to the abovementioned accommodation there are 3
private Maternity Homes at present in the Urban District.
Midwives Acts.
It is probable that the pressure on the maternity accommodation
available for the District will be relieved to some extent by the application
of the Midwives Act, 1936. Following prolonged negotiation, it was
eventually decided that the Council, acting as Agents for the County
Council, should appoint two Midwives to serve the Sanderstead/Selsdon
and Purley/Kenley areas. In addition, the Coulsdon Nursing Association
has appointed one of its nurses specifically for midwifery. The Council's
Midwives were appointed in December, 1937, and it is hoped that, working
in close co-operation with each other, and the other branches of the
Maternity and Child Welfare scheme, the present team of three midwives
approved by the County Council will increase the co-ordination and
usefulness of the scheme.
There are, in addition, 10 midwives practising privately in the Urban
District.
Unfortunately the application made by the Council at the end
of 1936 for supervisory powers under the Midwives Acts was again
refused. The anomaly of the position is increased now that two-thirds
of the approved Midwives are directly employed by this Council.
Home Helps.
The Council has made arrangements for the supply of Home
Helps in necessitous cases, and during the year 35 cases were assisted
in this way, this being 10 more than in either of the preceding two years.
Birth Control.
Cases in which advice on Birth Control is considered desirable on
medical grounds by the doctors at the Clinics, are referred to the Croydon
Mothers' and Infants' Welfare Association Clinic in Croydon.
An annual grant is made by the Council in return for which any
necessitous residents so referred are provided with advice, etc., at
reduced charges.
Health Visitation.
Since May, 1935, the Council has employed three Health Visitors,
who work under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health.
As was anticipated in the Annual Report for 1936, the total number
of visits paid by the Health Visitors decreased from 7,695 in 1936, to
36