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Maternity Outfits
A free issue of maternity outfits is made in accordance with the
instructions of the Department of Health and Social Security, namely
to those patients whose confinement will be conducted under the
National Health Service arrangements. These are issued by midwives
to their patients.
The Emergency Obstetric Unit
The aid of this unit was summoned on two occasions and the
patients were subsequently admitted to the hospital:—
2 cases of retained placenta.
Early Discharges from Maternity Hospitals
The numbers of discharges from hospital before the tenth day of
puerperium were as follows:—
48 hours after confinement 341
3-7 days after confinement 237
8-10 days after confinement 59
Patients delivered by domiciliary midwives
in hospital 59
Total 696
This shows an increase of 21 on those for 1971.
Midwifery Training
Following much detailed discussion between the Central Midwives
Board and senior nursing staff from St. Helier Hospital and this
Borough, an Integrated Midwifery Training Programme was commenced
at St. Helier Hospital at the beginning of December, 1972.
This training enables the student midwife to undertake the whole
of her year's training at one hospital, instead of taking Part I in one
hospital and Part II in another.
The student spends three months of her training in the community
working under the guidance of a teaching midwife. Here she
not only learns to give midwifery care in the home, but she also learns
about the working of community services, particularly those related
to the care of the mother and her child.
Six midwives from this Authority are approved by the Central
Midwives Board as midwifery teachers.
Eighteen student midwives received their training in Merton
during the year. Four were still in training at the end of the year.
Post-Registration Courses
One midwife attended a statutory refresher course of one week
and two others attended a clinical study day.
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