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26
Mortuary and Coroner's Court.
The public mortuary continues to be of great service, but
might well be improved and modernized in several particulars.
The number of inquests held during 1906 was 45.
Baths and Washhouses, etc.
There are no public baths and washhouses in Barnes and
Mortlake, although Richmond and Putney are provided with these
useful institutions. There is no public recreation ground and no
free library.
The Midwives' Act.
I continue, under the arrangement made by the Surrey
County Council, to supervise the work of the registered midwives
resident in the district, and have recently reported in detail to the
County Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Seaton.
At present there are but two trained midwives and one
untrained but registered person actually practising in the district.
Of the 684 births during 1907 about 250 are known to have been
attended by one or other of these three, and the results on the
whole have been excellent
There are several untrained midwives who are not registered
who continue to practise, but their cases become apparently fewer
year by year.
The Richmond Board of Guardians have recently notified
midwives practising in this and other districts of the Richmond
Union of their willingness to pay a fee of £1 11s. 6d. for medical
assistance in suitable cases. As the duty of calling in a medical
man is in certain cases now a statutory one, and the Act has
made no provision for the remuneration of medical men so called,
it is to be hoped that this decision will not in practice be rendered
ineffective by too narrow a definition of the cases considered
suitable.