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There is a distinct trend towards confinement taking place in
an Institution or Maternity Home.
The Retreat, Ross Road..
This is a home for unmarried mothers and their babies conducted
by the National Free Church Women's Council, and aided
by an annual grant of £'650 from the Croydon Council. Besides
the Matron and Nursing Staff, an honorary lady medical officer
attends the Home when necessary.
The following figures give the main details regarding the work
carried out in 1936, and I am indebted to Dr. Sutherland, the
Hon. Medical Officer of the Home, for them:—
No. of beds for patients 20
No. of cases admitted 27
Average duration of stay 5months
No. of cases delivered by (a) Midwives 24
(b) Doctor 1
No. of cases in which medical assistance was sought by
a midwife 14
No. of cases notified as (a) Puerperal Fever, (6) Puerperal
Pyrexia —
No. of cases notified as Pemphigus Neonatorum —
No. of maternal deaths —
No. of infant deaths (a) Still-born —
(b) within 10 days of birth —
Most of the infants were breast fed till 3 months old (2 had
supplementary feeds much earlier), but many remained in the home
long after they had been entirely weaned.
As is seen, the duration of stay much exceeds that in ordinal)
maternity homes. The girls are kept, with their babies, until
suitable situations can be secured for them, and when necessary
foster-mothers are found for the babies. Whilst the girls are in
the Home they are employed in domestic work. Some of them