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69
Daily Guardian Scheme.
This scheme provides for the payment to daily guardians of 1/per
day for each child minded while the mother is at work. Health
visitors are responsible for the visiting and recommendation of
suitable women as daily guardians and for periodic visiting of
children while in their care. In addition, guardians are required
to take the children to the nearest welfare centre each month.
At the end of 1951 there were 100 daily guardians on the register,
of whom 58 were minding 64 children. The number of individual
children minded during the year was 129 and they were in
the care of guardians for 15,710 days,
MIDWIFERY SERVICE
(SECTION 23)
During 1951 the number of domiciliary midwives employed in
the Area was 15, and the number of cases attended averaged 44 per
midwife. Midwives attend at the confinement and visit for 14
days thereafter. During the first 3 days after birth the midwife
attends twice a day and for the remainder of the time she attends
once daily. In addition several home visits are made to the expectant
mother during pregnancy prior to attendance at the ante
natal and midwives1 clinics.
Two of the midwives reach retiring age during 1952 and it is
not proposed to replace them as, with the present number of home
confinements, the remaining 13 midwives should be sufficient for
the work.
Eight of the midwives are approved by the Central Midwives
Board as teachers for Part II district training of pupil midwives.
Pupils are attached to the midwifery teachers for 3 months and 6
pupils are in training at any one time. During this period each
pupil has to take 10 cases.
Under the rules of the Central Midwives Board midwives may
now administer pethidine to patients if they consider it necessary.
This has been welcomed by the midwives and found to be beneficial
to the patients. All the midwives are qualified in the administration
of gas and air analgesia which is available to mothers on
request.