They prove, in the first place, that lying-in women should, as a rule, be delivered at home. And, as a consequence, that whatever provision may be made for cases of special destitution, or for midwifery teaching, such provision should be assimilated as far as practicable to the conditions which surround lying-in women in fairly comfortable homes.
These conditions are realised, and in some instances no doubt improved on, in the better class of workhouse lying-in wards, and of lying-in huts for soldiers’ wives.
The favourable results arrived at in many of these institutions appear to show that a little more care would lower the death-rate still further.
In every instance where it is considered necessary to organise lying-in accommodation by voluntary effort, the same principles should be kept in view.
The success which has attended Waterford Lying-in Hospital, already mentioned, shows how much may be done in rendering such accommodation a real boon to the poor.
A single hut, like the Colchester Hut, erected in a needy locality, would supply, and that safely, all the accommodation wanted. But for a training school of midwives and midwifery nurses other accommodation is required, and of a far more costly character.
It is true that any sort of building may be leased or bought and altered, or added to, and told off as a training school; but after what has been said, to take such a course would be to ensure killing a certain number of mothers for the sake of training a certain number of midwives. If we are to have a training school at all, we must, before all things, make it as safe for lying-in women to enter it as to be delivered at home; and having made up our minds what is necessary for this purpose, we must pay for it.
CHAPTER II.
CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF A LYING-IN INSTITUTION AND TRAINING SCHOOL FOR MIDWIVES AND MIDWIFERY NURSES.
To apply all this experience to the construction and organisation of a school for midwives and midwifery nurses[[20]] is the next thing:—
Everybody must be born, and every woman, at least in this kingdom, is attended at the birth of her child by somebody, skilful or unskilful. Except in the case of multiple births, there are therefore as many attendances as there are births in the Returns of the Registrars-General.