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of the child, the stamp " venereal" has to he put on the whole proceeding.
This makes it a very difficult matter in certain cases, as
both the mother and the father have to be convinced that the
mother's admission into the Hospital with her child is the right
thing, and if the question of a Lock Hospital comes up it immediately
brings in its train suspicions and enquiries which may
have no foundation in fact, and if it can be arranged that these
cases could be admittel and no question of the venereal possibility
be raised until such a time as it is firmly baeteriologicallv established
in Hospital, it would be an immense advantage in many cases.
It is so easy to say in a Regulation this and that shall be done, but
when it comes to interviewing the young mother in a case that may
be due to organisms other than the gonococcus, but which are producing
symptoms equally dangerous, it is a very different matter,
and those of us who have to do it realise what delicate grounds we
are treading on, and how much easier it would be if the restrictions
on the admission of such cases were removed.
If after definite determination that a case was venereal in
origin it had to be removed to a Lock Hospital, then everyone is on
a safe and firm ground and the parents have to bear the brunt of
the difficulty they are in, but I feel that this difficulty should if
possible be cleared away.
Fortunately there is only one tragedy to record and in that
case the child is permanently blind. When I say blind, it has some
perception of light as a result of operative interference. Again in
the interests of the mother I feel that the action of the Central
Midwives Board is not sufficiently drastic. It may seem inhuman
to want to imperil a woman's livelihood, but where she by neglect
imperils the whole pleasure of living for an individual, and causes
sorrow for the family as a whole, then I contend that mere warnings
however official they may be do not meet the case. It is urged that
they are only dealing with a midwife for breaking a regulation,
and that the consequences of that infringement are not the