Maternity and child welfare (memorandum)
1930-12 1930 1930s 8 pages 4 6. It is suggested that a list might be prepared by the Authority of those doctors practising in the area who are willing to undertake this service for uninsured women who engage midwives. The latter should be urged to explain to their patients the advantages of consul...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
December 1930
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/2604BAA0-9E4B-40DB-8146-A5D301F30089 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/2CEB2BE7-A0AE-4167-94C4-FFAD838EBB2C |
| Summary: | 1930-12
1930
1930s
8 pages
4 6. It is suggested that a list might be prepared by the Authority of those doctors practising in the area who are willing to undertake this service for uninsured women who engage midwives. The latter should be urged to explain to their patients the advantages of consulting a doctor during pregnancy, and, if they are unwilling to attend at the Centre, encourage them to select one of the doctors on the list, who should be the doctor to be called in by the midwife if any emergency should arise. The doctor would arrange to conduct the ante-natal examination either at the patient's home or at his surgery, and he should be offered the facilities of the Centre, including the services of the nurse or the health visitor, for the necessary following up of the case and subsequent supervision. In some cases arrangements might be made for the doctor to conduct the examination at the Centre with the patient's consent. The midwife engaged by the mother should be kept fully informed and encouraged to undertake as much of the ante-natal care as she is in a position to do. It is essential that the full co-operation of the midwives should be secured, and it should be made clear to them that these arrangements are designed in their interests as well as those of their patients. 7. Experience has shown that unless ante-natal supervision is adequately performed it may not only fail to benefit the patient, but may even involve additional risk by giving her a false sense of security. Under the Local Government (Qualifications of Medical Officers and Health Visitors) Regulations, 1930, the Medical Officer of an Ante-natal Centre is required to have had special experience of practical midwifery and ante-natal work, and it is suggested that there are definite advantages in securing for these posts the part-time services of private practitioners who possess the special qualifications prescribed by the Regulations. If possible, facilities should also be provided for other doctors to see their patients at the Centre if they so desire. 8. It is considered that arrangements on the above lines, co-ordinating the work of the Ante-natal Centres with that of the doctors and mid wives, should prove to be one of the most helpful ways of teaching women to accept ante-natal supervision as part of the normal preparation for a confinement, rather than an emergency measure implying some dangerous or unusual condition. Such arrangements should also do much to secure medical advice for women expecting their first confinement, with its exceptional risks. II. SUPPLY OF MIDWIVES. 1. It is now generally recognised that the services of a qualified midwife should be available for every confinement, whether she acts as a midwife in charge, or as a maternity nurse under the direction of a doctor. The employment of a midwife to carry out maternity nursing not only secures for both mother and child the advantages
292/824/1/71 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |