[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council.

  • Cumberland County Council
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/98 (page 23)
    J'he purj)()se of the foregoing circulars is to make it clear both to the practitioners undertaking domiciliary midwifer3^ and to midwives engaged in domiciliary practice, that the Ministry regard a midwife as acUng «s- a midimje during the pregnancy, even if the case has been booked by a practitioner in the usual way, unless the practitioner informs the midwife to the contrary. This means, as 1 see it, that midwives from now on will really cease to act as maternity nurses during the ante-natal period, and will act as midwives at this stage, having all the duties and responsibilities of a midwife in the matter, unless the practitioner informs the midwife that he accepts full responsibility. During the year midwives sent foi medical help on h()8 occasions. The chief causes were :— ])clayed Labour . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Ruptured Perinevim . . . . . . . . . . 240 Albuminuria . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Malpresentation . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Abortions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Pyrexia . . .. . . .. . . .. .. 37 Haemorrhage .. .. .. .. .. .. 71 Discharging eyes in the infant . . .. . . . . 33 Gas and Air Analgesia. During the year a further 16 midwives were trained in gas and air analgesia, making a total at the end of the year of 50 midwives certificated in this respect. All these were supplied with the appropriate apparatus, and also with apparatus for estimating blood pressure. During 1949 a further batch of midwives has been trained and vacancies have been booked for a further 10. When all these have been trained every midwife in the County, other than a few who are at the point of retirement, will have been trained in this respect. The number of occasions on which gas and air analgesia was employed in domiciliary midwiferj^ by midwives was approximately 600. This seems small in relation to over 2,000 domiciliary conhnements. This point has been carefully watched and the reasons given by the midwives include :— (a) A considerable number of women a])])arenl!y still do not desire analgesia. (b) Midwife summoned too late. (c) The practitioner administers Ins own anaeslhetic. There are various otlier reasons,such as that a practitioner may consider the ])aticnt unfit to have analgesia, (which accounts for a few cases), but the margin is sf ill much too high. The matter will be very closely followed up.