TRAINING IN MIDWIFER

Thames Star, Volume LX, Issue 16890, 14 September 1926, Page 5

TRAINING IN MIDWIFER

HEALTH PEPT.'S ATTITUDE LIMITATION OF CENTRES. ' DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S LETTER A matter that has been interests the Thames Hospital Board for son time is the provision made by il Health Department for the training < mid wives at the various hospitals. ,"; At yesterday's meeting the Dixe«t# General of Health, in reply to tl Board., advised that it had been foiin necessary to reduce the number of ii stitutions in which midwives could b trained. Consequently, a limited n*n ber of hospitals formerly recognised '.'.Ta training schools had been approved a training schools for midwives, all other being restricted to training in niatei nity nursing only. It was confidently expected that th majority of registered nurses would/a time goes on, realise that the mate; nity nursing course would be sufficieri to give them the necessary insight intj midwifery work. Already very few o those registered as midwives undertook that branch of nursing except undei the direction of a medical practitioner A copy of the Board's letter and tK reply of the .Director-General had bee forwarded to the Nurses' and Midwivei Registration Board, in order to give ail opportunity of further considering %h& Board's application that the Mater»itj Annexe should be recognised as a trailing school for midwives. '■-•{ Registration Board. , • The Nurses' and Midwives' Registration Board also wrote on the subject as. follows: : "; "The Director-General of Health areferred to the last meeting of this Board a protest he received from your Board regarding the decision of my Board recusing approval of your, hospital as a training school for midwives, and"l was instructed to inform you that my Board was unable to reconsider its cision,' the coming into force of the Nurses' and Midwives' Registration Act oa January Ist last it has been fouw* necessary to reduce the number of;» stitutions in which midwives may b©; trained, and, in consequence thereof;* very limited number of hospitals have) been approved for that purpose. It is not anticipated that many .of the rt>gistered maternity nurses will dean*; to further their studies and qualify as j midwives, as very few women at w present time will undertake maternityf nursing except under the direction' of| a medical practitioner." , . 'A? In a further /communication thsj Board advised that the minimum age' at which nurses might obtain registrar.;! tion had been fixed at 22 years. Regulations Unfortunate. :j '.": Mr. Hale thought the regulations,, preventing, as they did, the trainwgiv of midwives at Thames, were rather| unfortunate. ";■:'■. Mr. Rowe deprecated the of entrants, which conveyed the idwr that the Government was desirous > of> 'encouraging competition for posts Mi the various St. Helen's Homes. The Chairman remarked that the a^- s; j plications for such positions greatly es-v ceeded the number that could be accommodated. .' ; ''; ; J ''- r ii The letter was received. if.