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relief. In this month it was administered to 4, to 11 in each of the next
two months, and to 16 in December. No additional charge is made for
the service. In most cases the administration was highly successful,
in 4 only partly so, but in one was quite a failure. Apparently there
always will be some of these cases of failure because of the complete
inability of the patient to co-operate. Even if the failures were higher,
there would remain the justification for this practice in the comfort
which the mothers may derive throughout their pregnancy, from the
knowledge that they are to be helped, and their labour pains eased.
Even with the facilities available, though, only a proportion of mothers
elect to take advantage of them.
Home Helps.
The arrangements for the provision of home helps in maternity
cases continued as on previous lines, though the remuneration was again
raised, this time to £7 7s. Od. for the 14 days' attendance. During the
year, 145 cases were attended by home helps, under the Council's scheme.
During the financial year 98 cases were attended by 20 helps. Of these,
3 attended only one confinement, 6 two, 2 four, 2 five, 2 six, 3 seven, 1
twelve and 1 attended twenty persons.
The provision of home helps to assist in the running of a home
when the mother is being confined at home has for long been part of
the Council's welfare service. In 1944, the Minister authorised the
provision of home helps in households where the need arose, not from
the mother's having a baby, but because of the presence of a number
of children in the home. The principle was later extended to enable
authorities to provide a service of domestic helps who would assist in
the running of the household where difficulties arose primarily because
of illness. The publicity given to the arrangements and the invitation
to applicants for such appointments did not meet with much success.
The Minister authorised the appointment of a supervisor to run the
service. It was felt by some, though, that the rate of remuneration
offered was the real obstacle to the engagement. Before proceeding
any further with the appointment of an organiser, then, it was decided
to raise the hourly rate of remuneration from 1/3 to 1/9. No more
success followed this step. In November, therefore, it was decided to
appoint an organiser of the service. The appointment was made, and
there is now a domestic help service which is proving most valuable,
and is enabling aid to be given to households which would be in real
difficulty were it not for this assistance.
Consultant Service.
A consultant was summoned on 13 occasions. The only ante-natal
case was a patient suffering from haemorrhage. One patient was in labour
and was removed to hospital. Nearly all the remainder (post-natal
cases) were suffering from haemorrhage or shock. Transfusion was
performed in many cases, and some patients removed to hospital. One
was a case of uterine infection, and was removed to hospital; one suffered
from a severe perineal laceration, and was operated on at home ; and the
remaining case was a patient suffering from what proved to be haemorrhage
from a ruptured uterus for the treatment of which she was removed to
hospital.