Maternal Mortality : Report June, 1932
1932-06 1932 1930s 20 pages From West Ham we hear that "prejudice against attending an ante-natal clinic for examination and advice is fast dying out in this Borough ; the majority of expectant mothers regard ante-natal care as a natural and necessary supervision," while from East...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : The Maternal Mortality Committee
June 1932
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/64386C6D-8E72-435A-80B1-9D07D2A16F65 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/CD7C0AAC-6AA2-475F-BDFF-6C90689BA83E |
| Summary: | 1932-06
1932
1930s
20 pages
From West Ham we hear that "prejudice against attending an ante-natal clinic for examination and advice is fast dying out in this Borough ; the majority of expectant mothers regard ante-natal care as a natural and necessary supervision," while from East Ham comes the statement that "more facilities for ante-natal care with the provision of a Maternity Home would appreciably diminish the toll on the lives of the mothers." In view of the fact that the Maternal Mortality Report traces 9 per cent. of its investigated deaths to negligence of patients and friends to carry out medical advice offered to them we still urge on our Correspondents the need for the education of mothers. How much has been done can be judged from the Reports we have cited. They are typical of many which comment, for example, on the "pleasing eagerness" of the mothers. But having been urged in the past to educate the mothers, and feeling that our object has been largely attained, we must lay stress on the reasons which we believe in some cases to underlie hesitancy on their part to take advantage of what is provided for them. Where the clinics and hospitals are well equipped, where they are near their patients, or where there is appropriate and comfortable means of transport to them, where doctors are efficient and the midwives trained, there appears to be no lack of demand. Where hesitancy on the part of the mothers still prevails it is mainly due to the fact that facilities are poor, clinics imperfect or too far away, the hospitals crowded, the public institutions not brought up to date, or the doctors or midwives inefficient. In support of our contention that where the facilities offered are efficient and planned with real knowledge of the mothers' needs they are fully used and appreciated, we give below a few extracts from the Birmingham Health Report for 1930. Birmingham appears to be making every effort to ensure that its admirable service should be complete in any contingency. The ante-natal clinics have increased from 19,751 attendances at 1,522 sessions in 1929 to 28,828 attendances at 2,071 sessions in 1930. During 1930 approximately 400 maternity patients (including sixteen ante-natal) had Convalescent Home treatment, thirty-five midwives took post-graduate courses, and fifty Home Helps attended 613 cases — an increase of 239 since 1929. The maternity feeding centres served 21,814 meals to mothers at a net cost of 4.3d. per meal. Total net cost of food only £503 18s. 0d. The Birmingham City Council has a Maternity Insurance Scheme and also pays 20s. per case of puerperal fever or puerperal pyrexia to the City Nursing Association. The Council has a very comprehensive scheme for assisting unmarried mothers, including a special ante-natal clinic with a woman medical officer, and there are two special women officers to help the girls in every possible way. (14)
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |