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34
New Buildings
The plans of two new clinics it is planned to erect at Loxford
Lane and Goodmayes Lane are shown on pages 54 and 55.
A new feature of these clinics is the inclusion of a soundproof
room for audiometry and testing infants' hearing. It is hoped
that a start may be made on building in 1966/67.
Both of these buildings were designed by the Borough
Architect, Mr. H. C. Connell. Mr. Connell has attracted to his
staff a group of young and talented architects and it is a
pleasure to record here our gratitude and appreciation for the
hard work and willing co-operation they have put into the
designs.
SECTION 23
MIDWIFERY
Domiciliary
Confinement
Rate
There were 3,887 live and stillbirths to Redbridge mothers
in 1965 and of these 948 were born at home, making a hospital
confinement rate of 75.6% and a domiciliary confinement rate
of 24.4%. There were no domiciliary stillbirths and no domiciliary
maternal deaths, although there were three hospital
maternal deaths.
Integration with
General
Practice
Many obstetricians think that all mothers should be delivered
in hospital, but because of shortage of hospital beds this is
not likely to come to pass for very many years, if ever. The
tripartite structure of the National Health Service with public
health, general medical services and hospital services could,
and did, make ante-natal care a vexed subject in the past.
Happily, we have a very good liaison with the Ilford Maternity
Hospital, which makes for uniformity of ante-natal care. As
Miss Jesson remarks in her report, midwives continued to
assist four general practitioners with their ante-natal clinics.
This is a very useful contact and increasing integration with
general practice in ante-natal care is the shape of things to
come, to the benefit of patient, doctor and midwife.
48-hour discharge of mothers from maternity hospitals is
fortunately very rare in Redbridge. This is an expedient not
uncommon in many other parts of London where pressure on
beds is acute, but in this area of London, although there are
not enough beds for all who ask for them, it is possible to
accommodate those mothers who require them on obstetric or
social grounds.