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75
Puerperal Infection.
(a) Consultant services: A consultant was summoned on two
occasions to cases of puerperal infection.
(b) Hospital services: Any cases of puerperal infection
requiring hospital treatment are removed, either to the London
County Council North Western Hospital, or to the Isolation Block
of Queen Charlotte's Hospital.
During the year 13 patients were removed.
(c) Home Nursing: During the year it was agreed that the
Council would accept responsibility for the payment of the fees of
district nurses called in to take over infectious cases of midwives.
BIRTH CONTROL CLINIC.
Fortnightly sessions of this clinic were held throughout the
year. 124 women, of whom 98 attended for the first time, made a
total of 245 attendances.
In addition there were a few cases to whom no advice was
given as there were no medical grounds justifying such action.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE MIDWIVES ACTS,
1902-1926.
A further application made during the year for the Council to
be constituted the Local Supervising Authority of Midwives was
successful and from October 1st the Council took on these duties in
place of the Middlesex County Council.
The following particulars relate to the midwifery services of
the district:—
Total number of midwives practising during 1936 56
Number who removed from the district or discontinued
practice during 1936 4
Number in district at the end of 1936 52
Of the total number, 27 were resident in the district and carried
on a domiciliary practice almost entirely limited to this area; 12
were engaged in local maternity homes, most of them entirely,
though a few also carry on a very limited domiciliary practice ; and
17 were resident in adjoining areas but attended some cases in this
district.
The number of births attended in the district by midwives
who gave notice of their intention to practice was 1,696. In 852
cases the midwife was in attendance as a midwife, and in the remaining
844 as a maternity nurse. Of the confinements occurring in
private houses in the district 1,027 were attended by local midwives
whose practice is limited to domiciliary work (625 as midwives and
402 as maternity nurses) and 136 by midwives from adjoining areas
(96 as midwives and 40 as maternity nurses).