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154
In April, the administration of St. Mary's Maternity Hospital
was taken over by the Council. A Resident Medical Officer was not
appointed, however, until November, and from April to November
the Rota of four general practitioners continued to visit St. Mary's
Hospital as before. Since November, St. Mary's Hospital has been
entirely under the clinical guidance of the Assistant Medical Officer
of Health for Obstetrics and there has been a whole time resident
in the hospital.
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, 7 of the
10 deaths in 1935, 10 of the 13 deaths in 1936, and 11 of the 13
deaths in 1937.
Taking the Registrar-General's figures for maternal mortality
(deaths directly due to pregnancy) the rate for England and Wales
for 1937 is 3.65 per 1,000 births. In Croydon the rate was 3.56 in
1937. In Booked cases treated by the Obstetric Service the rate
for 1937 was 3.8 per 1,000 births.
Of the cases treated to a conclusion at the Post-Natal Clinic
during 1937, 87 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 1936 was 82.0 per cent.
The number of patients delivered in Mayday Hospital showed
an increase of 24 per cent. on the total for 1936, and the strain on
maternity accommodation is at times very great. The number of
cases delivered of viable babies in Mayday Hospital, with a nominal
48 beds, was 952. The number delivered in St. Mary's Maternity
Hospital, with 30 beds, was 536.
GENERAL STATISTICS FOR 1937.
Registrar General's Returns.
Number of Live Births allocated to the Borough of Croydon 3,263
Number of Still Births allocated to the Borough of Croydon 94
Total 3,357
12
Number of Maternal Deaths (directly due to pregnancy) 12
Number of cases notified as Puerperal Fever 12
Number of cases notified as Puerperal Pyrexia 67