[Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Northumberland County Council.

  • Northumberland (England). County Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Northumberland County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    40/116 (page 38)
    babies, the following procedure was established. Full information concerning these mothers is passed to the midwife immediately the hospital booking is made, thus enabling her to visit and assess the suitability of the home for early discharge and also to give advice concerning the necessary preparations. In the few instances where home conditions have been considered unsuitable the hospitals concerned have co-operated in arranging for the mothers’ stay in hospital to be prolonged. Following delivery, the midwife is notified by telephone before the discharge takes place and is therefore able to visit immediately and continue the nursing care of mother and baby. Complications arising in mothers and babies following early discharge were few and of a minor nature. There can be little doubt that the actual delivery of the baby has always been the most satisfying part of the district midwife’s work and whilst she has felt some regret over the decline in the numbers of home confinements she has acknowledged and accepted that hospital confinement is in the best interest of both mother and baby. In addition to the large amount of work involved with the hospital discharges the midwives continued to participate fully in the field of ante-natal care in clinics and in the homes and many have taken part in the ante-natal education and relaxation prog¬ rammes held throughout the county. For a number of years anxiety has been felt concerning the small number of home confinements being undertaken by some mid¬ wives in rural areas. Not only was it becoming increasingly difficult to provide an effective service but, in addition, the amount of mid¬ wifery involved no longer justified the appointment of staff with the full midwifery qualification. Amongst other areas, this situation was of particular concern in Berwick upon Tweed and the sur¬ rounding areas of Scremerston, Norham and Cornhill. In an endeavour to find a solution to this problem discussions were held with the Berwick upon Tweed Hospital Management Committee and having pursued various proposals it was agreed that an effective and economic midwifery service could only be maintained in the area by achieving a 100% hospital confinement rate. All expectant mothers are now encouraged to have their babies in hospital and following this agreement only two home confinements took place. It is anticipated that the desired 100% hospital con¬ finement rate will soon be achieved with early discharge being arranged when requested. Midwifery Training, Part ii Three pupil midwives entered and completed training during the year. All were successful in qualifying as midwives. These pupil midwives will be the last to be received as the Part II school was discontinued when the maternity unit moved to new accommod¬ ation at the Hexham General Hospital.