Report of Departmental Committee on the Training and Employment of Midwives.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Health. Department Committee on the Training and Employment of Midwives.
Date:
1929
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of Departmental Committee on the Training and Employment of Midwives. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON THE TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF MIDWIVES. REPORT. To the Right Hon, ArrHuR GREENWOOD, M.P., Minister of Health. INTRODUCTION. SIR, 1. We have the honour to submit the following report and recommendations dealing with the subjects of the inquiry referred to us in the minute dated the 22nd May, 1928, of your pre- decessor in office, namely :— ““'To consider the working of the Midwives Acts, 1902 to 1926, with particular reference to the training of mid- wives (including its relation to the education of medical students in midwifery) and the conditions under which midwives are employed.”’ We have held 22 meetings, at 138 of which we have taken oral evidence. A list of the bodies and persons who furnished us with written statements and of the 74 witnesses who appeared before us is given in Appendix D to this report. PART :1. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 2. Before the passing of the Midwives Act, 1902, the midwife was in most cases a woman whose only claim to knowledge of her art was based upon experience derived from actual prac- tice. She was often illiterate, often incapable even of reading a thermometer, and usually quite ignorant of modern methods of nursing and of the meaning of “‘ cleanliness ’’ in the surgical sense. The work of instructing midwives had for many years been carried on in London and other large provincial towns by medical officers connected with lying-in hospitals, and a certain number of well-educated women had taken advantage of these facilities to receive a proper training before embarking on practice. ‘These were, however, in a minority. The Obstetrical Society of London, in addition to pioneer work in laying down rules of practice and conduct, had as early as 1872 instituted a voluntary examination for midwives, the passing of which was rewarded by the issue of a diploma guaranteeing that its possessor was ‘‘ a skilled midwife, competent to attend natural labours.’’ This diploma, whilst conferring a distinction of real value, was not in any way officially registered. No standard qualification