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86
In an Institution.
781 births occurred in registered nursing-homes in this district.
Most of the 235 births to mothers from outside • districts which
occurred here would have taken place in the local nursing-homes.
Of these 781 confinements 656 were conducted by local practitioners,
105 by midwives, and at 498 midwives acted as maternity nurses.
Notifications of 870 births were received in respect of Harrow
mothers having taken place in hospitals outside of Harrow. Of
these notifications 229 were received from Queen Charlotte's
Hospital, 207 from Redhill, 174 from the City of London, 61 from
Queen Mary's Hospital, Hampstead, 38 from University College
Hospital, 23 from the Royal Free Hospital, 18 from St. Mary's
Hospital, 17 from Charing Cross Hospital, 15 from Elizabeth
Garrett Anderson Hospital, 14 from the Middlesex and 10 from the
Samaritan Hospital. Notifications were received of the occurrence
of 125 births in nursing-homes and 28 in private houses outside
the area.
Of the total of 3,098 births, then, some 1,600 occurred in the
patients' own homes, some 500 in local nursing-homes and about
1,000 in hospitals or homes outside the district. Some 1,500, or
48 per cent., therefore, of the confinements took place in institutions
either inside or outside the district. Of the total confinements 216
occurred in County Council hospitals, namely, 207 at Redhill, 1 at
the Central Middlesex and 8 at the West Middlesex. This figure
of 216 represents 7 per cent. of the total confinements. This small
number is, of course, partly accounted for by the fact that, owing
to the difficulty in obtaining admission for patients referred from
the ante-natal clinics to the County Hospitals, accommodation for
such patients requiring it was found at various of the London
hospitals with which the Council has entered into arrangements.
During the year 96 patients were admitted in this manner.
Local Maternity Home.
Early in the year a deputation consisting of representatives of
the Wembley and the Harrow Councils was received by members
of the Middlesex County Council. As a result of this meeting it
was understood that the opposition to the provision of maternity
accommodation by the District Councils came not from the County
Council but from the Ministry of Health; that the County Council
contemplated the provision of sufficient accommodation to enable
40 per cent. of the confinements in the county to occur in their
institutions; that the principle of building hospitals to include beds
for the use of "paying patients" had not been considered by the
County Council; and that no provision would be made for the
patients to be attended by their own medical attendants.
Later in the year it was learned that the County Council had
approved the purchase of Bushey Heath clinic, to be used for the