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11.
the hard-pressed hospitals end utilising the Municipal Midwifery Service
to the maximum degree possible. Above all, the hone help enables the
mother to stay at home for her confinement when she wishes to do so and
thus contributes to the happiness and comfort of mother and baby and the
whole family. Many expressions of appreciation of this service have been
received.
Hospital Confinement. During recent years the hospitel maternity units
have been working under great pressure and the applications for hospital
confinement have now to be sifted and restricted in order that the most
needful cases may gain admission. These are cases in which some complication
is known or expected, and those in which the home conditions
render domiciliary confinement undesirable. The bulk of the hospital
maternity work for the area is dealt with at the Middlesex County Council
Hospitals - Redhill end Bushey. The Borough Council has arrangements with
two other hospitals for admission of necessary maternity cases, viz. Queen
Charlotte's end Ashridge. Hendon mothers are also eligible for inclusion
in the official evacuation scheme, by which expectant mothers from the
London area are taken to distant emergency maternity homes in varoous parts
of the country.
All these arrangements may be described as official. Meny Hendon mothers
prefer however to make their own private plans, either with hospitals or nursing homes.