London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Leyton 1947
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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| Council | E.C.N.A. Midwives employed by the E.C.N.A. under arrangement made with the Local Supervising Authority in pursuance of Sec. 1 of the Midwives' Act, 1936. | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
MATERNAL MORTALITY AND THE ANTE-NATAL CLINIC.
(Report by Dr. Hilda Menzies.)
The year 1947 marks the end of an era in Maternity and Child
Welfare. For the last thirty years local authorities have been
encouraged to appoint medical officers responsible for both antenatal
clinics and child welfare clinics. The National Health
Service Act, 1946, which comes into operation in July, 1948, discourages
such appointments, and the separation of ante-natal
work from child welfare is envisaged. The obstetrician has been
advocating this for a number of years and in 1935, before the
maternal mortality rate began to fall, Holland(l) after describing
why the measures to deal with maternal mortality had been ineffective,
stated that until the necessary personnel had been trained
there was not the slightest chance of lowering the rate.
" The lowering of maternal mortality will not be difficult
once the proper personnel, with the requisite training centres
have come into being and a new obstetric tradition has arisen—
as in such circumstances it surely will. The great mistake
that the central and local authorities of this country have made
is in believing that the creation of an efficient obstetric service