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27
Domiciliary Midwifery
Emphasis continued to be placed on admission to hospital of mothers
who had borne 4 or more children. For such mothers early discharge is
sometimes a concession which obtains their consent. The domiciliary
midwives dealt with nearly a third of all confinements in the borough, in
addition to an increasing number of mothers discharged from Hospital
early in the puerperium.
For detailed figures see Appendix.
Midwives Acts 1902-51
The number of midwives who notified their intention to practice as
midwives within the Borough (including those in hospitals) and who
were practising at the end of the year was 101. All held the certificate
of the Central Midwives' Board. The Medical Supervisor of Midwives
visits midwives in private practice and nursing homes, and the super*
intendent Municipal Midwife carries out these duties for the domiciliary
midwives.
Child Welfare Centres
Total attendances ware fewer than in 1965, but in the summary
tables there is recorded for the first time, the attendances at doctors'
surgeries, when an attached Health Visitor was in attendance. With the
lower birth-rate these about compensate for the fewer numbers at Welfare
Centres. Nevertheless there was a fall related to failure to recruit Health
Visitors. This impeded the maintenance of some Toddlers clinics, and
curtailed health education activities. It is hoped that the commencement
of a local Health Visitor training course and a vigorous student sponsership
programme will remedy this basic deficiency of our infant welfare
service. Changes in medical personnel necessitated frequent alterations
in clinic programmes and prevented the establishment of continuity of
supervision and advice which are attractive to mothers. This again reduced
the popularity of some Centres. There seems no immediate solution
of the problem of shortages of medical staff.
For detailed figures, see Appendix.