The medical profession / by M. Foster Reaney.

  • Reaney, M. Foster.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The medical profession / by M. Foster Reaney. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    130/150 (page 112)
    poisoning, may find himself. If the suspicions he may have do not seem sufficiently strong, to his mind, to justify his communicating with the authorities, he may later find himself stigmatised as careless and ignorant. On the other hand, should he take action, and later the doubtful symptoms be found to be due to natural causes, he will probably find him- self cast in heavy damages. As matters stand I'le will be well advised to call in the aid of a toxicological expert, and to thus shift the responsibility off his own shoulders. Un- doubtedly, he ought to be able to obtain this further advice at the expense of the public funds, as he does it with a public purpose—the prevention of crime. THE “ MIDWIVES ACT.” The recent “Midwives Act” has not been met with universal approbation in medical circles. There are several reasons to account for this. The principle underlying the Act is nowhere attacked, because it has for its object the protection of poorer-class mothers from the ignorance and incompetence of any woman, who likes to call herself a midwife. It provides, in some measure, for a certain minimum of general and special knowledge on the part of any person who wishes to attend, for pecuniary profit, women in childbirth. To this end it makes provision for registration after proof of ability, and for the ordaining of certain rules and regulations which all midwives must obey. It has one great fault, however. Its provisions are to be carried out under the supervision of a central and certain local authorities ; the latter usually being the county council, and the various sanitary boards. The central authority consists of a body composed chiefly of laymen, with a few medical members. This ‘‘ Central Midwives Board ” is responsible to the Privy Council, which constitutes the paramount authority. To any one conversant with the difficulties of the questions to be considered, it must have been apparent that a board with this constitution would, early in its career, make mistakes of a serious and dangerous character. Perhaps the most important of these is to be found in the regulations dealing with the administration of drugs by the midwife. Thus, it is ordered that the latter is to keep a record of all drugs administered by her, stating with what purpose and in what doses they were given. At first sight this does not strike one as being other than a wise ordinance, but on considering the point with more care, it will be at once apparent that such a rule assumes that the prescribing of drugs by a midwife is correct and right. Such