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to suffer from various forms of ill-health which arise from causes
similar to but not so great as those which produce the death of
the patient.
This invalidity produces far reaching results in the home.
The mother in often transformed from a cheery, happy individual
to a querulous, cantankerous invalid, and this attitude of mind
often has a seriously adverse effect upon such children as there may
be, quite apart from: the husband.
It will be seen from the report that the Committee emphasizes
the fact that Institutions such as the East End Maternity Hospital
are dealing with enormous numbers of mothers with extremely
satisfactory results, and when it is realised that these East End
Hospitals are catering for a class of population where circumstances
of living are—speaking generally—more adverse than they are in
most districts, it only emphasizes still more the necessity for seeing
that more is done to ensure safety at child-birth, in districts where
conditions of living are really more satisfactory, but which would
seem to be more dangerous to the prospective mother.
With regard to our own activities. We provide an extremely
able Specialist at the Ante-Natal Clinic where the midwives are
encouraged to bring up their cases. Unfortunately in the past
the midwives did not avail themselves of this service to any large
extent.
The circumstances under which the Ante-Natal work is
now being carried out are already having such widespread
results with regard to the attendances, that I am bound to ask
that an extra session be provided at once, with the probability of
having to ask for a second in a very short time. I would stress
the importance of the provision of the really skilled service as there
is no false security given to the mother as the result of an opinion
based on inadequate knowledge.
As far as the educational side of the work is concerned this
is carried out by the Health Visitors in the homes of the people
when they visit.