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46.
INSTITUTIONAL MIDWIVES
The numbers of mldwlves employed by East Ham Memorial Hospital, and qualified at
31st December to administer gas and air analgesia were as follows :-
1956 - Six
1957 - Six.
Number of cases in which medical aid was summoned by a midwife under section 14(1
of the Mldwlves Act, 1951
1956 1957
(a) for domiciliary cases -
(1) where the medical practitioner had arranged
to provide the patient with maternity
medical services under the N.H.S. Act 3 45
(11) others 53 33
Total 56 78
(b) for cases In East Ham Memorial Hospital 162 177
Number of cases delivered In institutions but attended
by domiciliary mldwlves on discharge from Institutions
and before the fourteenth day 32 38
Breast Feeding
Number of domiciliary cases In which the Infant was
viiolly breast fed at the fourteenth day 204 203
SECTION 24 - HEALTH VISITING SERVICE
All Health Visiting Services are provided by the Authority. There are no agency
arrangements with voluntary organisations.
The total visits made in 1956 and 1957 were 30,975 and 25,328 respectively.
In each year one visit In five proved abortive through 'no access', and means must be
found to circumvent this wastage of valuable health visitor time.
Increasingly the system of selective visiting is being adopted, and when one considers
that cars are not provided by the Council for this branch of the service, the health
visitors are accomplishing a huge task either on foot using public transport when possible,
or on bicycle, both being very tiring and time-consuming.
The ore c tic ally there are 23 areas In the borough each covered by a health visitor, but
In practice there is considerable overlap due to shortage of staff, sickness, holidays and
the pressure of other work.
The health visitor Is taking a greater part than ever before in mental health work,
the care of old people, and specialist work In relation to problem families and research
surveys, e.g. B.C. G. vaccination of selected groups, and audlometrlc work with groups and
individuals.
The variety of duties she Is called upon to carry out has multiplied, so that soon it
will become Imperative to exercise greater selection in allocating her dally task.