Introductory notes on lying-in institutions

Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.
LONDON: PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
Florence Nightingale.
LONDON:
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1871.
If I may dedicate, without ‘permission,’ these small ‘Notes’ to the shade of Socrates’ Mother, may I likewise, without presumption, call to my help the questioning shade of her Son, that I who write may have the spirit of questioning aright, and that those who read may learn not of me but of themselves?
And, further, has he not said: ‘The midwives are respectable women, and have a character to lose’?
In the year 1862 the Committee of the Nightingale Fund, with a view to extending the advantages of their Training Institution, entered into an arrangement with the authorities of St. John’s House, under which wards were fitted up in the new part of King’s College Hospital, opening out of the great staircase and shut up within their own doors, for the reception of Midwifery cases. The wards were under the charge of the (then) Lady Superintendent. Arrangements were made for medical attendance, a skilled midwife was engaged, a certain number of pupil nurses were admitted for training; and hopes were entertained that this new branch of our Training School would confer a great benefit on the poor, especially in country districts, where trained Midwifery nurses are needed.