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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
This page requires JavaScript
The midwives attending domiciliary confinements in West Ham continued to come from
the same 4 sources as in 1948 and are shown In the following table:-
MIDWIVES ATTENDING DOMICILIARY CASES.
| Source. | Number (or equivalent number) of midwives on 31.12.49. | Number of Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal | 4 | 187 |
| Plaistow Maternity Hospital | 9* | 647 |
| E.C.N.H. | 2* | 109 |
| Silvertown N.W.D.N.A. | 2 (part-time) | 16 |
| Private Midwives | - |
* These midwives had the assistance of pupils.
The table also shows that: of the 3246 West Ham births, 960 were delivered in their
own homes within the Borough. In 30 of these cases the midwife acted as maternity nurse.
Medical aid was summoned in 352 cases. In 239 these help was required for the mother and
in the remaining 113 it was summoned on account of the baby. Once again the midwifery service
has continued to function smoothly and harmoniously because of the goodwill and commonsense
of all concerned. Doctors and midwives alike have made the well being of the patient
their first objective.
ANALGESIA.
The total number of midwives working in West Ham at the end of the year was:-
Domiciliary Midwives - 19
Hospital Midwives - 34
Total 53
All are qualified to administer gas and air analgesia.
SUPERVISION OP MIDWIVES.
The Senior Assistant Medical Officer for Maternity and Child Welfare is the Supervisor
of midwives and there is no non-medical Supervisor. Although the co-operation received from
all the midwives concerned and from those in charge of the agencies supplying the domiciliary
midwives is much appreciated, yet it remains difficult to maintain as much personal contact
as one would wish between the individual midwives and the officers of the local health authority
who are responsible for the service.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The stillbirth rate which is 19 stillbirths per 1,000 total births, the infantile
mortality rate of 23 deaths of infants under 1 year per 1,000 live births and the maternal
mortality rate of 0.30 per 1,000 live and stillbirths, are the lowest on record for West Ham.
While this cannot fail to give satisfaction to all those persons within the Borough
who are concerned with the care of mothers and young children, it should be remembered that
because the numbers involved are small, there may be considerable fluctuation in these rates
from year to year.
28