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154
It will be seen from the above figures that practically half the
deaths occurring under one year of age occur in the first four weeks
of life, and that of these, the majority are under the heading of
premature births, these with 128 still births notified make up a
total of 217 wasted pregnancies. The misinformed may at once
say—so many less mouths to feed, it is nature's limitation of
families. True it may mean less mouths to feed but at what cost?
In a majority of these cases there is a record of maternal illness,
either before or after the birth, much, indeed very much, of which
is preventable in various ways. Apart from the actual physical
illness that often converts a happy healthy woman into a fretful
invalid, there is the phsycological effect in most cases of the bitter
disappointment due to the wasted pregnancy or the early loss of the
little one, particularly if it is a first pregnancy.
Slowly the necessity for ante-natal supervision is being realised
Slowly, all too slowly, the newer conception of the care of the
mother at her confinement is being disseminated. Still much
propaganda has to be done to counteract the demand on the part
of the mothers to ask for instrumental aid early in labour " to get
it over."
Still too frequently do mothers appear at the Clinics with a
history of a breech presentation and damage to themselves and to
the child, nearly all of which could have been avoided by careful
ante-natal supervision. The ante-natal work was cut off from the
general Maternity and Child Welfare Clinics and a separate antenatal
Clinic commenced.
The work has slowly but steadily progressed and the midwives
are more and more sending their cases up for examination. Alongside
of this there is a growing practice of being confined in a
Hospital, Nursing or Maternity Home, and not in their own home.
Gradually we are realising that conditions of ill health and
damage which were regarded as inevitable and normal results of a
confinement can be avoided and with the dissemination of