View report page

11
practitioners in a considerable number of illnesses presenting skin
eruptions such as measles, food rashes, syphilis, chickenpox and
other conditions thought to resemble smallpox.
Maternity and Child Welfare.
The Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme has been extended
to cover the points raised in Memo. 156/M.C.W. of the Ministry
of Health of December 11th, 1930.
The Hackney Borough Council Scheme now concurs in
practically every particular with Memo. 156/M.C.W., which
advised an extension of the ante-natal services in order to prevent
maternal mortality.
The Ministry of Health stated that the main causes of maternal
death in childbirth were connected with:-
(1) Absence of ante-natal care;
(2) Errors of judgment in practice or treatment by doctors or midwives;
(3) Lack of reasonable facilities available for effective medical care;
(4) Negligence of the patient or her friends to adopt or carry out medical
advice offered to them.
The scheme now in operation at Hackney endeavours to meet
these four points as follows:-
(1) Absence of ante-natal care.—This is provided for by an
additional ante-natal centre and an additional clinic at an existing
centre. The work of the centres will be found in detail in the
section of the report dealing with Maternity and Child Welfare,
on page 39.
(2) Errors of judgment in practice or treatment by doctors or
midwives.—This has been met by the appointment of Consulting
Specialists to assist medical practitioners with difficult confinements
and by arranging a system with the ante-natal centres whereby
midwives can have their patients examined and reported upon
before the time for confinement arrives. Arrangements had also
been made for obtaining, free of cost to the family, X-ray examinations
of doubtful pregnancies examined at the clinics. The Council
had, with the consent of the Ministry of Health, approved these
arrangements shortly before the issue of the Memorandum of the
Ministry, so that no additional facilities in this respect were needed.
(3) Lack of reasonable facilities available for effective medical
care.—This is met by the increased ante-natal accommodation and
the hospital beds provided under the agreement with the London
County Council by the extension of the scheme.