View report page

HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATION FOR MATERNITY
CASES.
Previous reports have dealt with the proposition of a
joint maternity hospital for Harrow and Wembley being provided
by the two Urban District Councils—40 beds for
Harrow patients and 30 beds for Wembley patients. Little
material progress concerning this matter can be reported to
have taken place in 1936.
Throughout the year the difficulty of satisfying, on behalf
of the Council, the demand for hospital beds for confinement
was as great as ever. Such demands may arise
because of some medical complication or anticipated abnormality,
because of environmental unsuitability for confinement
in the home, or because of the patient herself seeking
hospital confinement although there may be strictly no
medical reason for the confinement taking place in hospital
rather than in the home. With regard to this third group
of case, for some years there has been a steady increase in
the percentage of births taking place in hospital throughout
the country, and there appears to be no reason to anticipate
a falling off in the desire of women to be confined in hospital.
The demand for hospital maternity beds, as regards
Wembley, has been met by the Health Department referring
cases to the hospitals of the County Council and to the
London hospitals.
In 1936, 1,642 births were notified to the Medical Officer
of Health. Of these 739 were born at home, 571 in hospital
and 332 in private nursing homes or at private addresses
other than the normal residence of the mother. These
figures mean that 45 per cent. of the births took place at
home, 34.8 per cent. in hospital, while the further 20.2 per
cent. of the mothers made arrangements to enter a private
nursing home or to have the confinement at the house of a
friend.
A certain number of the 20.2 per cent. treated otherwise
than at home or in hospital would undoubtedly rather
have had their confinement in hospital, while it is also true
that the percentage of births in hospital would have been
greater had there been hospital accommodation available
nearer than London.
The following statistics show the growing desire for
confinement in hospital.
31