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110
He states that a satisfactory feature of this service has been
the tendency in some areas to concentrate the maternity work at
the institutions transferred to County and County Borough
Councils under the Local Government Act, 1929, by modernising
the maternity wards and their equipment and by strengthening
the medical and nursing staff employed for this work. The report
recommends that new maternity accommodation should, where
practicable, be associated with general hospitals. This recommendation
was made on grounds of efficiency, as well as to facilitate
specialist treatment of non-obstetric conditions associated
with pregnancy and child-birth, and the Minister is advised that
recent experience has shown that it is in general undesirable to
provide small maternity homes as separate units.
In all areas there is probably need for more intensive efforts
to educate women as to the importance of ante-natal supervision
and to persuade them to make use of the facilities provided for
this purpose.

Although the reference to a persistent high maternal mortality
rate is not applicable to this Borough, the Minister considers it
would be desirable to call for a special report in all cases shewing
to what extent effect has been given to the suggestions contained
in Memo. 156/M.C.W. and the final report of the Departmental
Committee on Maternal Mortality, 1930.
It will be seen that the Council's findings in 1931 have not
yet been fully carried out : further, the recommendations of the
final report of 1932 called for information under the following
headings:—
1. Improving the Ante-Natal Services.
The present arrangements provide for one ante-natal clinic
at. the High Street South Centre on Friday morning. The
attendances for the years 1931-1933 were as follows:—