View report page

40
Obstetrician, as envisaged in the Midwives Act, 1936, is
now in actual operation in Bromley. The constant stress
that I have in the past made upon the vital need of regular
and efficient ante-natal examination, as an all important
factor in the campaign to reduce maternal mortality,
maternal morbidity, stillbirths and premature births, is
now functioning in full.
Natal Services.
Domiciliary Midwifery Service.
The Municipal Midwifery Service began to operate on
1st November, 1937, after considerable delay caused by the
appeal of the District Nursing Association.
The service provides in addition to four full-time
midwives, a home help service, and a general practitioner
service for ante-natal and post-natal examinations. I hope
in my next Annual Report to be able to submit a more
detailed report under this heading.
To the 31st December, 1937, 138 cases were booked in
connection with the Municipal Midwifery Service, and the
midwives attended 50 confinements. The number of antenatal
visits paid by the four midwives was 344, and tiie
number of post-natal visits paid during the same period was
751. From the 1st November to 31st December, 1937, there
were 71 notified cases of births where the confinements were
at home, and as 50 of these were in connection with the
Service, the percentage is 70 per cent. During the same
period there were 77 births in nursing homes in this
Borough (58 being in the Maternity Hospital), of which
20 had home addresses out of the area.
Of the 138 cases hooked up to the end of the year, 30
of them required the service of a home help. This,
however, is not a fair proportion as many of the cases were
handed over by the District Nursing Association, and a
number of the cases were completed before the service was
actually running smoothly.
The cost of each case to the Borough, based on 60
patients per midwife per year and the services of doctor