Maternity and child welfare (memorandum)
1930-12 1930 1930s 8 pages Memo. 156/M.C.W. MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE. I. ANTE-NATAL SERVICES. 1. The Departmental Committee on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity, which was appointed by the Minister of Health in June, 1928, have submitted an Interim Report, which was published in July of the pres...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
December 1930
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/1C6E9ED1-7370-4DAE-B48B-6ADD81BCA546 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/341FF8FF-F15D-447B-A405-D3CD8E3357A8 |
| _version_ | 1771659907067543552 |
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| description | 1930-12
1930
1930s
8 pages
Memo. 156/M.C.W. MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE. I. ANTE-NATAL SERVICES. 1. The Departmental Committee on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity, which was appointed by the Minister of Health in June, 1928, have submitted an Interim Report, which was published in July of the present year. This Report has furnished both the Government and the public with many new facts and conclusions in regard to the subject. As a result of their investigation into 2,000 deaths of women in childbirth during the two years, the Committee came to the conclusion that there were four primary avoidable causes in the train of events which led up to a fatal issue. First, there was absence of ante-natal care in 17 per cent. of the deaths ; secondly, there were errors of judgment in practice or treatment by doctors or midwives in another 17 per cent ; thirdly, there was lack of reasonable facilities available for effective medical care in 5 per cent. of the cases ; and fourthly, in 9 per cent. there was negligence of the patient, or her friends, to adopt or carry out medical advice offered to them. Thus not less than 48 per cent. of the total deaths from childbirth into which inquiry was made seemed to the Committee to have been avoidable. In the remaining 52 per cent. of the records of death examined no preventable factor actually emerged, but in some cases, owing to incompleteness of the records, it was not possible to come to a definite conclusion. In summary, the Committee found that of the cases of death brought to their notice not less than one-half were directly preventable under suitable conditions. These findings not only confirm previous impressions that much mortality and morbidity associated with childbearing might be prevented, but indicate the kind of unsatisfactory conditions which must be removed or ameliorated if we are to secure, as we must, a reduction in the relatively high maternal mortality rate of the country, not only in those districts where the maternal mortality has been highest over a number of years, and in which little decline, if any, has occurred, but in the country as a whole. Generally speaking, it is clear from cumulative experience of the work of the maternity services in their present form that the solution of this complex problem is most likely to be found in an all-round tightening up as well as strengthening of each link in the chain of obstetric supervision, and an increased watchfulness over all stages of pregnancy and labour rather than in any single arresting or comprehensive remedy. Much of this improved supervision will come about gradually if the education and training of the medical student and the midwife are designed to equip them to appreciate more closely the extreme importance of painstaking attention to 3995. Wt.175/2243. 9,000. 12/30. Wy. & S., Ltd. Gp. 2. 32-9999
292/824/1/71 |
| geographic | UK |
| id | HEA-2197_4b897b128735454cb3e1cdf345c0e6bf |
| institution | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| is_hierarchy_title | Maternity and child welfare (memorandum) |
| language | English English |
| physical | TEXT |
| publishDate | December 1930 |
| spellingShingle | Trades Union Congress Maternity and Child Welfare, 1924-1934 Health care Maternal and infant welfare ; Maternal mortality ; Pregnant women Maternity and child welfare (memorandum) |
| title | Maternity and child welfare (memorandum) |
| topic | Trades Union Congress Maternity and Child Welfare, 1924-1934 Health care Maternal and infant welfare ; Maternal mortality ; Pregnant women |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/1C6E9ED1-7370-4DAE-B48B-6ADD81BCA546 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/341FF8FF-F15D-447B-A405-D3CD8E3357A8 |