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91
PANEL OF CONSULTANTS
A medical practitioner in attendance upon a woman resident in Shoreditch
can upon application to the Medical Officer of Health obtain the advice of a consultant
upon any condition arising during pregnancy, parturition or the puerperium.
The names of the consultants who are available under this arrangement will
be found in the section of this report dealing with Staff.
The services of a consultant were not required during the year covered by this
report.
NATAL WORK
MIDWIVES
The number of midwives practising in Shoreditch at the end of the year was
approximately 25. Many of these are attached to organisations outside the borough.
The only midwives actually resident in the Borough for domiciliary cases are the two
municipal midwives and the midwives under the Salvation Army at 67, Nichol
Square. The number of births attended by midwives was 463, which represents 37
per cent. of the total births notified during the year.
MUNICIPAL MIDWIVES
A municipal midwife was appointed in 1931 for the purpose of attending those
expectant mothers in the Borough who apply for her services (municipal cases); she
also attends the confinements and acts as maternity nurse in cases conducted in
Shoreditch by medical students from St Bartholomew's Hospital. The full fee for
municipal cases is 25s. for the first child and 21s. for other children, and the Council
has approved a comprehensive scheme under which these charges can be remitted
in whole or in part to those whose income falls below a certain scale.
It will be seen from the table below that the expansion of this work necessitated
extra assistance. A temporary additional midwife was appointed on March 18th,
1936, and with slight breaks she continued in the Council's employment until October
when the Council on the recommendation of the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee
appointed her as a second municipal midwife.
The following table shows the number of cases attended by students from
St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the municipal midwives since the inception of this
service:—