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SECTION 23: DOMICILITARY MIDWIFERY.
General Arrangements for the Service.
The area Is at present served as follows:-
(1) Plaistow Maternity Hospital maintain a Part II Training School for pupil
midwives and at present provide 8 trained domiciliary midwives and 13 pupils who work
within the Borough.
(2) Essex County Nursing Association maintain a Part II Training School for pupil
midwives at the Lady Rayleigh Training Home, about half-a-mile outside the Borough. It
serves a large part of south-west Essex and provides 2 domiciliary midwives and 2 pupils
who work In that part of the Borough of West Ham which lies north of the District Railway.
(3) Silvertown and North Woolwich District Nursing Association covers that portion
of West Ham, East Ham and North Woolwich which lies to the south of the Victoria and
Albert Docks. Two District Nurse-Mldwlves are provided and deal with a very small number
of deliveries each year.
(4) West Ham Borough employs 4 municipal midwives whose work is confined within
four areas which are to some extent also served by the Plaistow Maternity Hospital service.
Supervision of Midwives.
The Senior Assistant Medical Officer, Maternity and Child Welfare, is the medical
Supervisor of Midwives and no non-medical supervisor is employed. This medical officer
maintains close and individual contact with the four municipal midwives but the supervision
of the midwives not employed in the authority's domiciliary service is Indirect
and much less close as far as this Local Authority is concerned. In the case of the Lady
Rayleigh Training Home the matron is the non-medical supervisor for the County and the
Home comes under the supervision of the County's medical supervisor. In the Silvertown
and North Woolwich area the two midwives concerned are regularly inspected by the London
County Council. In the case of Plaistow Maternity Hospital there is no Intimate contact
with a local authority supervisor. The Council's medical medical supervisor endeavours
to maintain as close liaison as possible with the Sister-in-Charge of the domiciliary
midwifery service and with the tutor to the Part II Training School. In addition,
enquiries are often made by telephone to all the agencies concerned on the receipt of
various notifications relating to the domiciliary service, and records of labour and
ante-natal care are sent to the office when requested.
Administration of Analgesia by Midwives.
All the domiciliary midwives at present employed are qualified to administer gas
and air analgesia and have been trained In the administration of pethidine.
The apparatus for the administration of gas and air analgesia are sufficient to
meet the demand and the arrangements for the transport of this apparatus have been
found satisfactory.
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