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29
MIDWIFERY
Staff
The number of midwives employed by the Borough throughout the
year remained steady at eleven.
Confinements
The domiciliary midwife has continued to work in very close harmony
with Edgware and Bushey Maternity Hospitals, and the mothers continue
to enjoy the very valuable continuity of care which is obtained by the
midwife, in very close liaison with the General Practitioner, undertaking
ante-natal care in the patient's home, accompanying her to the hospital
and conducting the delivery and then returning the mother and baby to
the patient's home where the post-natal care is completed by the midwife.
During the year, this method was employed for 137 confinements.
One hundred and eight confinements were conducted by the domiciliary
midwives in the homes of the patients.
Unification of the Hospital and Domiciliary Midwives
It is intended that the service shall be unified and that Northwick
Park Hospital will provide the Borough with a midwifery service on an
"agency" basis, to this end, all the domiciliary midwives spent some time
in the hospital familiarising themselves with its techniques and its
geography.
This attendance was also in preparation for the approval of the
hospital as a training school when the midwives would undertake the
district training of the hospital pupils.
Pupil Midwife Training
Both Edgware and Bushey hospitals continue to send their pupil
midwives to the Borough for the community training and during the year
21 pupils from these hospitals spent three months with the teaching
domiciliary midwives in preparation for their State Certified Midwives
Diploma examination.
Post-certificate Training
Two midwives undertook the G.l course which is a mandatory
refresher course of one weeks duration.
Advanced Midwifery Training
I am very pleased to be able to report that the Midwife who was
seconded to undertake the Midwife Teachers Diploma was successful in
the examination.