London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
West Ham 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
This page requires JavaScript
Continued from previous page...
| Antenatal Care | History of Case | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|
| 8—None. Age 41. | Shock: Acute P.P.H. Childbirth. | |
| 9—None. Age 24. | Cardiac Disease. Chronic anaemia. Dystocia: instrumental delivery with chloroform. | |
| 10—None. Age 37. | Cerebral thrombosis : phlegmasia alba dolens : puerperal septicaemia. | |
| 11—Yes, Midwife. Age 26. | Acute Yellow Atrophy: Toxaemia of pregnancy. |
Three of the Maternal deaths, i.e. 16.5%, were due to complications
of abortions. This is a matter for grave consideration.
Comparatively few patients appear at clinics or book their doctor
or midwife as early in pregnancy as the first three months. Often
the first that is known of a patient's condition is after she has
been ill some days—having repeated "floodings" or having had
a temperature from decomposition of retained products. Maternal
mortality from this cause will only be reduced by the comparatively
slow process of educating the public (including doctors,
midwives, and most of all the pregnant women) to the fact that
antenatal supervision is absolutely necessary from the earliest
possible period right up to full-term. The first three months are
as important as the last three months of pregnancy.
Of the 15 remaining maternal deaths, four were delivered in
hospital, but none of these had booked for confinement in hospital—all
being sent in as emergencies.
123