Midwives (Scotland) Act, 1915

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume IX, Issue 2, 1 April 1916, Page 105

Midwives (Scotland) Act, 1915

An Act has been passed m Scotland for the registration of midwivas. It is framed very much on the same lines as the Midwives Act for England, and under it a board will be formed, to be the Central Midwives Board for Scotland. The constitution of the Board is as follows : (1). Three parsons to be appointed by the Lord-President of the Council, two of whom shall bo certified midwives practising m Scotland, and shall bo first appointed when, m the opinion of the said LordPresident., midwives so qualified are available m number and sufficient to wan ant such appointment ; and (2). Four persons to be appointed, one by the Associations of County Councils of Scotland, one by the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, one by the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute of Nurses (Scottish Branch), and one by the Society of Medical Officers of health for Scotland ; and (3). Five registered Medical Practitioners to be appointed, and so on. A point of interest to nurses and midwives, is that they will be given a reasonable share m the government of their own profession, m the appointments under heading (1), and the appointment by the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses, under heading (2) Jt is, however, to be hoped that these appointments of midwives will not be delayed until after the regulations for the training and examination and certification of the future midwives have been framed, for on the regulations will depend the succeess of the Act.

The regulation of the course of training is, we feel assured, the most important of all and we hope that the standard, set by the Dominions on this side of the world will be adopted, and that for untrained women, a couise of twelve months m a recognised training school, and for trained nurses, a course of six months will be the minimum. At the present time applications for registrations under the New Zealand Act, come from pei sons who have never worked inside an institution, and who have attended courses of lectures at ceitain colleges — socalled — which appear to give little or no practical instiuction. These applications, of course, are enquired into and frequently refused. An answer from one to which enquiries were made, is certainly amming- — it ran : — " They are never let off with less than four or five weeks." And after four or five weeks a woman's life and the life of her child are placed m their hands. We hope also that the distinction between maternity nurses and the midwife will be dropped, and that all midwives will be also maternity nurses and have instiuction m nursing as our midwives have. Clause No 11 of the Act is one which specially interests us, as it provides for a reciprocal registration of women trained m any part of His Majesty's Dominions, m which there is m force any Act for the certification and registration of midwives, etc. provided that the standard of training and examination required is, m the opinion of the Board, equivalent to the standard adopted by the Board.