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142
THE OBSTETRIC SERVICE.
The obstetric service was fully described in the Annual Report for
1933.
Some of the Mayday Hospital Booked cases are sent to the
Ante-Natal Clinics by doctors and midwives because of abnormalities
and complications. Many of the Emergency cases are
seriously ill when they are received into hospital. The extent to
which the Council provides for the serious cases may be judged by
the fact that in 1933 all the 12 maternal deaths in Croydon occurred
in the Council's beds, 9 of the 11 maternal deaths in 1934, and
7 of the 10 deaths in 1935.
Taking the Registrar-General's figures for maternal mortality
(deaths directly due to pregnancy) the rate for England and Wales
for 1935 is 3.93 per 1,000 births. In Croydon there has been a
fall from 3.63 per 1,000 in 1934 to 2.36 in 1935. In Booked cases
treated by the Obstetric Service the rate for 1935 was 0.9 per 1,000
births. .
Of the cases treated to a conclusion at the Post-Natal Clinic
during 1935, 92 per cent, were classified as "Health Unimpaired."
This signifies that anatomically and functionally their condition
was the same as before their pregnancies. The corresponding
figure for 1934 was 92.8 per cent.
The number of patients delivered in Mayday Hospital showed
an increase of 25 per cent, on the total for 1934, and the strain on
maternity accommodation, inadequate from the first, is now
excessive. The number of cases delivered of viable babies in Mayday
Hospital, with a nominal 22 beds, was 646. The number
delivered in St. Mary's Maternity Hospital, with 30 beds, was 546.
A Minnitt Gas-air analygesia apparatus has been provided for
patients at Mayday Hospital, and its use has been greatly appreciated
by many of the mothers. A Post-graduate refresher course
of lectures and demonstrations by Obstetric specialists was giveD
to the midwives of Croydon and was well attended.
GENERAL STATISTICS FOR 1935.
Registrar General's Returns.
Number of Live Births allocated to the Borough of Croydon 3,288
Number of Still Births allocated to the Borough of Croydon 103
Total 3,391