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performed under anaesthesia at St. Thomas's Hospital. Several
cases of twins were observed and the mothers were able to make
appropriate preparations.
Perhaps one of the greatest assets the clinic possesses is that
both mothers and midwives can feel that there is a special authority,
actually on the spot in Hounslow, to which they can go for advice
and reassurance or to which they can appeal.
A thorough examination of an ante-natal case takes some considerable
time, and the numbers on occasion have been such that
cases had to be seen far too hurriedly. Steps have been taken to
remedy the fault, especially with a view to emphasising the consultative
nature of the clinic.
The very large attendances were partly the result of the fact
that a few of the midwives in the district had obtained an incorrect
conception of the functions of the ante-natal department, and
evidently expected that they would be responsible no longer for
any ante-natal observation of their cases."
A. J. Wrigley.
MATERNAL MORTALITY
Ante-Natal Services.
Arising out of Circular 1167, and Memo 156/M.C.W. of the
Ministry of Health, I made the following report to the Maternity
and Child Welfare Committee:—
9 th February, 1931.
"It would seem from Memorandum 156/M. & C.W. that the
Committee are reporting what has more or less been common
knowledge for some time, that a considerable proportion of the
deaths resulting from child-birth, are preventable.
I would like here to emphasize a point of view which is so
often overlooked when dealing with these matters, and that is that
to think merely in terms of death, is to get an inaccurate picture
of the problem, as a very large number of women are condemned