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224 calls were made for medical aid, 181 in respect of the mother, and 43 in respect of the child.
Administration of Gas and Air Analgesia:
The number of mothers who had gas and air analgesia during labour increased from 54.3 per cent for
the last six months of the year 1947 to 79.6 per cent for the last six months of the year 1948. This increase was
largely due to a publicity campaign which was ably supported by the doctors, midwives, health visitors and
the local press.
General Practitioners and Midwifery:
There was a slight reduction in the number of births attended by general practitioners, 179 in 1948, as
compared with 192 in 1947, but the fall in the birth-rate (from 21.07 in 1947 to 17.49 in 1948) probably
accounts for this reduction.
The average annual number of maternity cases dealt with by general practitioners in the last eight years
was 164.
The Council made available the services of their consultant obstetrician to assist a medical practitioner
in connection with a difficult case of labour, puerperal fever or puerperal pyrexia, but no calls were made on
his services during the period January 1st, 1948, and July 4th, 1948.
Home Helps:
During the year, home help was provided for 109 mothers (13.6 per cent of the 799 home confinements),
65 through the official home help scheme and in 44 cases the Council paid the home help chosen by the mother.
There is room for a considerable expansion of this service for mothers.
(c) HOSPITAL CONFINEMENTS:
During 1948, 1,098 mothers were confined in the Willesden Maternity Hospital and 1,071 in other
hospitals, as follows:
530 in Central Middlesex Hospital;
50 in St. Mary's Hospital;
89 in Queen Charlotte's Hospital;
26 in Middlesex Hospital;
28 in University College Hospital;
63 in Queen Mary's Maternity Home, Hampstead;
and smaller numbers in other hospitals.
100 were confined in a nursing home in Hampstead, and smaller numbers in other nursing homes and
maternity homes.
In Willesden, 5 nursing homes providing accommodation for 4 maternity patients and 20 other patients
were on the register at the end of 1948.
20 mothers were confined in the nursing home with accommodation for maternity patients.
The total number of confinements of Willesden mothers which took place in hospitals and nursing homes
was 2,169, 71 per cent of the total births (2,968).
The demand for institutional midwifery has increased owing to the overcrowded conditions in the homes
and the fact that the hospital service is now free. It is therefore to the mother's financial advantage to have
the child in hospital, where she has not the expense of board, home help and laundry.