1000

NOTES, COMMENTS, AND ABSTRACTS

A CONFERENCE ON MATERNAL MORTALITY.THE fifth Conference of the Committee on Maternal

Mortality was held at Friends House on Oct. 27th,under the presidency of the Duchess of Atholl.Referring to the recommendations of the Depart-- mental Committee in its interim report, she said thata great part of the provision regarded as necessaryalready existed in many areas ; even in rural districts82 per cent. of the population were now within reachof a trained midwife, district nursing associationsbeing largely responsible for this service. There wasground for confidence that the direction had beenshown by which, with the cooperation of the conscienceand intelligence of the public, we might find a wayin which one of the greatest experiences of life mightcome to be regarded as something natural, noimal,and not fraught with serious danger.

THE MINISTER OF HEALTH.

Mr. Arthur Greenwood spoke of the unreducedmaternal mortality-rate as one of the black marksagainst the health services of our country, for nobodycould be satisfied with deaths and disease resultingfrom preventable causes, as about half the 2000 deaths investigated by the Departmental Committee had been pronounced to be. The first line of attackhe believed was to induce local authorities to use tothe full the powers already possessed by them. Ifall local authorities used their powers up to 100 percent., a marked impression might be made on the maternal death-rate. There were, however, areas Iin which antenatal care was provided, and only aminority of pregnant women took advantage of it ;the best facilities for skilled attention were valuelessunless the women could be educated to make use of It them. Many committees had produced as manyreports calling for the establishment of a nationalmaternity service, but Mr. Greenwood had not yetmet anybody who knew exactly what it meant. Hehad not got a scheme to put before the meeting, buthe had an objective-that of a national maternity ;service fulfilling the principles laid down in the report. Details could only be formulated when they came to ithe stage of negotiations, and it would render no useful service to be too specific before counsel had Ibeen taken as to how the suggestions could be mosteffectively carried out. He would like to forge abond of partnership between the National Health;Insurance scheme and the local authorities, which he believed was the only satisfactory basis on which anational service could be established. ,

A NON-PARTY RESOLUTION. !

Lady Erleigh moved a resolution emphasising theagreement of the Conference with the recommenda-tions of the Departmental Committee’s report,especially in its demand for an increase in the lengthand content of training of medical students inobstetrics, and in its five points as to the essentialservices necessary. On the proposal of Mrs. Cranley,seconded by Mrs. Malone, it was agreed to add homehelps to the list of ancillary services desirable.

Miss Marion Phillips, D.Sc., seconded the resolu-t’on, and spoke of the grave responsibility of con-tinuing to pile up a toll of preventable deaths whilewe failed to provide the care which might preventthem. She knew a scheme could not be produced ina night, but she suggested that the Minister of Healthshould set himself a mental time limit for carryingout negotiations with all those concerned. There wasreal need for haste, though a great deal might bedone without waiting for the national scheme to becompleted.

Dr. H. B. Brackenbury, chairman of the Council ofthe British Medical Association, said that the resolu-tion had the support of the medical profession. Itwas that profession which had first formulated adefinite maternity scheme, and all the schemes pro-

posed had been largely in agreement as to the require-: ments. It was important to continue education and

agitation, so that whatever Government was in powerthe necessity to do something in this matter mightbe kept prominently in mind. Although it might bewise to urge the putting into force of existing powers,and although the moment might not be favourablefor a large expenditure on a new social service, yetthe complete national maternity scheme must bekept in view, and no temporary measure must beallowed to interfere with or materially to delay thefull scheme.

Discussion was carried on to the extreme timelimit, after which the resolution was put to the meet-ing and carried unanimously.

A PLEA FOR SYMPATHY WITH THE DEAF.Mr. Stanley Baldwin, at the annual meeting of the

National Institute for Promoting the Welfare of theDeaf, last May, pointed out that the disabilities of thedeaf are considerably aggravated by lack of sympathyon the part of those with whom they come into con-tact, a fault which often arises from want of thoughtand want of imagination. Much might be done tomitigate this unfortunate condition of things if thematter were ventilated in the public press, and it wasgratifying to see that the Sunday Graphic ofOctober 26th contained an article on the subject,written by " One who is Deaf." After enumeratingsome of those things which make life so difficult forthe deaf, but which could easily be avoided if thepublic understood, the writer closes with the words" Do not laugh at our mistakes. Try to lighten ourburden of deafness. We ask you only for the samesympathy and understanding which you instinctivelygive to the blind." This is a plea which surely willnot be disregarded when once the public understandthe position of these afflicted people.

"THE THREE CARD TRICK."! i

HoLBORN Borough Council has recently opened

a centre to test the liability of children to diphtheriainfection by Schick’s method, and to immunise arti-

ficially those in whom the test is positive ; in additionthey have set out the dangers of the disease and thevalue of the remedy by means of a short propagandafilm called " The Three Card Trick." The flm openswith scenes on the racecourse and fair-ground whereexponents of the art of card-sharping encourage their

, audience to " spot the lady." From this mysterious,I beginning the scene shifts to the site of the FoundlingHospital, where a crowd of children are seen at play;the high incidence of diphtheria, the dangers ofinfection by carriers, and the method by whichchildren are rendered immune are described insimple headlines. The new centre at 10, John-street,Theobald’s-road, is shown in action, and the mildnessof the test is illustrated by the tranquillity of severalsmall children under the operation. The popularityof the centre is already increasing rapidly.

In a slightly morbid epilogue the allegory of thetitle is explained ; instead of a memorial card asthe sole memento of a daughter dead of diphtheria,the wedding card of a living young woman might haveappeared in later years, had the mother taken her tothe immunisation centre as a small child. In thiscase the " winning card " is signed by the mayorfor each child certified immune to diphtheria. Thefilm is available for hire by other boroughs where itmay be required for propaganda purposes.

NEW HOSPITAL FOR THE POTTERIES.—Lord andLady Harrowby last week opened the new Burslem,Haywood, and Tunstall war memorial hospital at Stanfield,Burslem, the successor of the old Haywood Hospital. Thehospital, which contains 68 beds, has cost £43,000, of whichjB6000 remains to be raised.