[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Denbighshire County Council.

  • Denbighshire (Wales). County Council. no2004062613.
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Denbighshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    32/106 (page 32)
    Scrv.ices. 1 would not expatiate on whicli Authority is the most suited for this responsibility, hut, while three different administrations continue to he involved .hi the provision ol the service, a diversity of opiniDii and policy will iiers-ist. 'I'he Ministry of Health has given guidance on the type of case which should he adm.itted for hosjiital conhnement. As a general rule it is accepted that mothers should he admitted for medical reasons or who have complicated preg- nancies, hut I view with discjuietude the inclusion of primparae in tlrs category, for if all mothers are to he delivered of their first hahy in hosii.ital, it is unlikely that they Avill willingly agree to having their second baby at home, even though the home environment may he entirely suitable. It is only in the admiss.ion of normal pregnancies that opinions are at variance, and for assessment purposes this group only should he analysed, hut unfortunately this .A not strictly possible. Factors having an important hearing on domiciliary or hospital confinement, such as the psychological effects on the mother and the family unit, breast feeding and mother/child relationship, cannot be accurately evaluated and are a matter of subjective conclusions, hut statistical data can give objective guidance. The only readily available figures at my disposal are the Maternal Mortality Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and the Birth Rate for the County for the past ten years. These are presented in the form of a graph showing vivhlly the course of events from 1941 tf) 1951. Since 1941, the Maternal Mortality Rate in Denbighshire has steadily declined, being lowest in 1944 and 1948, and, s’miHrly, the Infant Mortality Rate, which was lowest in 1948 and 1951. These trends must be considered in conjunction with the Birth Rate, which was highest in 1947 and has been decreasing since that year. .\s previously intimated, 1948 witnessed the changes legislated for in the National Health Service Act, 1946, but the courses of the graphs have not l)een significantly altered by these events. Having posed the c]uestion, 1 can only admit my inability to provide an answer, but would emphasise that I am far from convinced that the present trend of increasing num- bers of mothers being confined in hosifital will fundamentally benefit either the mother and child, or the family and community.