[Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Wiltshire County Council.

  • Wiltshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1959
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Wiltshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/90 (page 11)
    ’Care of Mothers and Young Children i Ante-Natal Care Ante-natal care provided by the County Council service continues to be mainly given by the midwifery staff in the course of their domiciliary work, and there were in 1959, except in Swindon i only three ante-natal clinics separate from the hospital service, those at Bulford, Corsham and Wilton. The total of ante-natal attendances in 1959 was 1,141, compared with 1,164 in the previous year. There were also 134 attendances for post-natal examination, compared with 104 in the previous ; year. Since no nationally standardised personal ante-natal record card had been produced, considera¬ tion was being given at the end of the year to the possibility of a suitable card being evolved for local use. A card of this kind, if carefully preserved by the patient, helps to co-ordinate the care i of the patient by domiciliary midwives, hospitals and general practitioners. Maternal Mortality There was no death directly due to maternal causes but there was one where pregnancy and labour were concomitant with the principal cause, malignant hypertension. This death took place in hospital and the County Council’s maternity services were not concerned in ante-natal care. Infant Welfare Centres and Health Visitors’ Centres Unfortunately it was impossible in 1959 to obtain Ministerial approval to the purchase of the site selected for the new central clinic building in Salisbury, and its erection, although planning had reached a final stage by the end of the year. This clinic will provide accommodation for all the Council’s clinic services in Salisbury, although additional child welfare centres will continue to be held in outlying parts of the City and it is proposed to build additional clinic premises in Bemerton in 1961-62 if the Ministry approves. Negotiations for the building of a new clinic in Chippenham, to be leased to the County Council, were nearly completed by the end of the year, and it was hoped that this clinic would be brought into operation in 1960. The need for new clinic premises in Devizes has long been apparent but their provision has been delayed by the difficulty in finding a suitable central site. Search for a site was continuing at the end of the year with the help of the Borough and Rural District Councils. At Marlborough by the end of 1959 arrangements had nearly been completed for the lease of premises suitable for adaptation for all clinic purposes for the town. At the end of the year there were 61 child welfare centres attended by a doctor, compared with 58 in 1958. Additional centres were opened at Bulford Village, Dilton Marsh and the School of Infantry. Warminster. Appendix A gives details of times, places, and attendances at all the centres but the aggregate attendances, etc., are shown in the following table. 1957 1958 1959 Total attendances during the year 39,419 39,052 42,673 Number of children who attended during year 7,165 7,403 7,861 Number of new cases (under one year and included above) 2,522 2,720 3,178 [^Statistics in this section exclude the Borough of Swindon, for which information will be