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local authority doctors and midwives are represented, has
continued to prove of great value and the co-operation of my
colleagues is much appreciated.
Antenatal Care
The number of Antenatal Clinics staffed by medical officers
of the Authority has continued to decline, as practically all antenatal
work is undertaken by the hospital or general practitioner
with whom the patient is booked. The Council's midwives
continue to hold Antenatal Clinics in the Health Services Clinics,
although a proportion of them hold their clinics in conjunction
with general practitioners at the practitioners' surgeries. Figures
relating to the Antenatal Clinics are given in the following table:—

Comparative figures for 1968 were 987 sessions attended by
1,191 antenatal and 18 post-natal patients. The 1969 figures
therefore represent a decrease of approximately one-third
compared with the previous year.
Mothercraft and Relaxation Classes
These classes are held at the Health Centre, the nine
purpose-built clinics and at a general practitioner's surgery
where a health visitor is attached. The classes are particularly
valuable to women expecting their first baby, but are of benefit
to all expectant mothers and a number do attend during second
and subsequent pregnancies. The numbers attending decreased
from 896 in 1968 to 854 in the year under review, but this
decrease reflects the fall in the total number of births and the
number attending, when expressed as a percentage of the total
number of births notified, shows only a slight reduction from
22 0 to 21.7. The number of women attending who were booked
for hospital confinement rose marginally from 772 to 776, whereas
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