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Physicians of London and the Obstetrical Society.
Briefly put, the opinions were to the effect that
"puerperal fever" included "septicaemia, pysemia,
septic peritonitis, septic metritis, and other septic
inflammations in the pelvis occurring as a direct result
of child-birth."
The prevalence of puerperal fever cannot be considered
without taking into account the character of the
attendance available for the patients at their labour.
The question of registration and certification of midwives
has been the subject of much discussion and is
not without some bearing on public health work.
Last year's cases can be divided into 2 groups, one
containing 4 patients delivered and attended by
mid wives and nurses connected with Queen Charlotte's
Hospital, and the other 3, delivered by medical
practitioners and attended by untrained women. No
information is available as to the proportions of births
attended by medical practitioners and by midwives,
so that no conclusions can be drawn from this division.
Of the 4 cases occurring in connection with the
Queen Charlotte Maternity, two were due to a septic
case in Kensington not diagnosed at the date of the
labours in this Parish, and one was a woman who
had in bed with her at the time of her confinement
a child with a discharging sore (hip disease). The
fourth case could not be explained except on the
basis that it was due to drain effluvia, the woman