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DOMICILIARY MIDWIFERY
The six Council midwives cover the whole area except for a few cases along the
northern edge of the Borough, who are attended by midwives from the Lady Rayleigh Training
Home, administered by Essex County Council. As far as possible, the midwives work in pairs,
so that when a midwife is off duty, her colleague who is probably already known to the
mothers, takes responsibility for her patients.
Except when she has a night or week-end off duty, each midwife is on call for her
own patients at night. So far, no arrangements have been made to provide a special "night
rota".
Staffing. Despite several advertisements, the midwife who resigned early in 1958,
was not replaced until the end of 1959, when a midwife, who had been a pupil midwife in the
West Ham domiciliary service two years earlier, was appointed to the vacant post. In the
interim period, a nurse from Lebanon, who had just completed her midwifery training in
England, was given a temporary appointment which she held for seven months until her permit
to stay in England expired.
Supervision of Midwives. Day to day supervision was exercised by the Non-medical
Supervisor, who keeps in close touch with the Senior Medical Officer, who is the medical
supervisor.
Maternity Outfits. These have been distributed by the domiciliary midwives to all
their patients.
Administration of Analgesia. Midwives have continued to use both Trilene and Gasp
and Air for those patients who they judged would benefit from an analgesic. They choose
whichever method they consider most suitable for the patient.
Refresher Courses. Mrs. Cray attended a refresher course at Keble College, Oxford,
which she enjoyed very much, and at which she gained useful information which was passed
on to her colleagues.
Training in Relaxation-Preparation for Labour. The organisation of classes has
again proved difficult, but midwives have given individual instruction to those expectant
mothers who have expressed a wish to have it. By arrangement with the Committee of St.
Agatha's Hostel for unmarried mothers, the Non-medical Supervisor has been a frequent
visitor to the home and has given the mothers a series of simple talks which have been
much appreciated.
Training of Pupil Midwives. All the domiciliary midwives have continued to train
pupils from Forest Gate Hospital for their Part II examination. Each midwife has a
different pupil every three months, and there has been a very high proportion of examination
successes throughout the year. While each midwife is responsible for her own pupil, the
Non-medical Supervisor takes a general interest in the training, and gives one or more talks
to each group of pupils. The Medical Officer of Health, Deputy Medical Officer of Health,
and the Senior Medical Officer share the five compulsory lectures which are given by local
health authority staff to the Part II pupil midwives at Forest Gate Hospital.
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