[Report 1939] / Medical Officer of Health, Ellesmere Port U.D.C.

  • Ellesmere Port (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1939] / Medical Officer of Health, Ellesmere Port U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PHE-1TATAL 0LI1TIC This Clinic is held on Wednesday afternoons of each week® 323 Iiothors attended for tho first tine® 1210 further attendances wore nude® 23 Mothers attended for post netal examination® 1558 Totel ettcndenccso The percentage of attondr.noe in relation to live births v/es 6op. This percentage shows that the Mothers appreciate and value the services of the Clinic® In addition to the expert medical supervision, advice end assistance each Mother is given individual advise on general care, diet, clothing and preparation for natural feeding of the baby when born. Urine tests are made, and blood presrure taken© Milk is allowed in necessitous cases- There is complete co-operation between the midwives and the Clinic, most of the nurses sending all their primigravidae to us for measurement etc® Of the remaining AjdJo of Mothers not -attending the Clinic, 53 were attended by their own doctor, and 187 wore supervised by the nurse attending the confinement® The number of mothers who are under no care at all is negligible, but there are still a few who make no provision for attention until they arc in extreme need of a nurse® For this reason there are still some stillbirths due to inattention at birth® HOMS HELPSo This service is now in operation? but could be improved upon. There is great difficulty in finding suitable help. In four cases, the service of a Home Help was arranged® Three of the Mothers who received this help, paid some of the fees; in one case tho whole fee was paid by the Council. Though this appears to be a small number owing to the fact that many mothers have relatives^ to whom they can apply for help, the number will increase consider — ably now. that many new families are entering the district who have no such facilities. STILL - BIRTHS. 29 still-births were registered, almost double that of previous years:- Obstruction and difficult labour 9 Ante-pnr turn Haemorrhage 7 Ho apparent cause 4 Albuminuria 3 Accident or ill-health of mother 3 Inattention at birth 3 29 In almost every case the mother had been under the care of a doctor, so that one feels that most of these deaths were unavoid — able, but it is regrettable that there should bo so many of them® -25-