The workhouse committee complained in 1848 that the midwife had occasionally neglected to send for the surgeon until great mischief had occurred. The workhouse gave midwifery relief with only one midwife in the Rotherham area at a time when one in six babies died in their first year. To use this service it is likely that the patient would have paid and it would have been beyond the means of most working class people. The service was not very good as the midwife was untrained and inexperienced and were often illiterate middle age women. In those days Midwifery skills were often shared from generation to generation .
By August 1849 a Medical Officer was employed to support the cases of midwifery at a charge of ten shillings and six pence to each case he had to attend. In the early 1900 midwives were portrayed as dirty illiterate and ignorant women.
On the 1st April 1903 the "Midwives Act" came into operation; its object was to secure the training and supervision of midwives as the number of puerperal fever and still births gave great concern. Around this time it was found that the profession was largely in the hands of ignorant women, most were illiterate and nearly all without the most rudimentary ideas of cleanliness. The Act brought midwives under control and supplied training, however it was found impossible to forbid untrained women to practice. Rotherham Workhouse infirmary had about a dozen beds of maternity cases. A inspection in April 1905 found of the 25 midwives that had enrolled only one had possessed the certificate at a acceptable level, he found the majority of the women were of lowest class and dirty in the extreme. The women had on washable dresses, on apparatus and no concept of the importance of cleanliness. The Female Health Visitor explained the rules to these untrained midwives but it was found unsuitable to write instructions as most of them could not read. Not surprisingly around this time over 4000 women died in childbirth in England and Wales.
In 1909, 2066 babies were born in Rotherham of which 116 were born in the workhouse sadly a totally of 721 died at birth and another 231 died before they were one year old. A number of facts were blamed for the high number of deaths. Nutrition and care of the mother during pregnancy, unhealthy marriages, inherited conditions, drugs, women trying to induce abortions, carelessness and ignorance on rearing infants on the part of parents, and untrained midwives, positive neglect of children exposure to the cold, poverty and starvation, overcrowding and insanity housing conditions.
For 15 years things had not improved in midwifery, so the "Midwives Act, 1918" tried to address some of the downfalls. An ante-natal clinic was now held once a week under the supervision of the Maternity and child Welfare Medical Officer. Also in the case of emergencies medical attention could be given to either mother or infant for a period up to four weeks from the date of birth. The Local Supervising Authority would pay for such cases and this would be recovered from the patient of in the cases of poverty from the Local Authority.
Ferham House, a 12 bedded maternity home, opened in December 1920 and the home had four nursing staff holding CMB certificates and a maternity and child welfare medical officer who visited the home daily. These services were free of charge and in the first year it opened 983 babies were born of which the doctor only attended 18. The average stay was 15 days and sadly 5 babies were born stillborn and another two died within 10 days. Ferham house and Rotherham workhouse maternity ward were both later registered under the nursing homes under Rotherham Corporation Act of 1924 By 1928 The Borough had seventeen midwives and another two new midwives who by the approval of the central midwives Board were appointed. They undertook their training at the Municipal Maternity Home and once fully trained, were paid by the local Authority at rate of 7/6 per case.
Gradually standards started to improve mainly due to Rotherham Corporation Act, In 1924 where both Maternity Homes became registered and had regular inspections. The two hospitals were Alma Road Public Assistant Hospital (Workhouse) and Ferham House Municipal Maternity Home. Midwives became more accountable and the was a number of cases where midwifes were removed from the Midwives Roll after been charged with negligence. All the cases were passed onto the Central Midwives Board or further investigation. Many midwives were also paid some form of compensation after instances were hospital treatment was deemed necessary.
Midwifes often worked well into retirement age and in 1934 it was reported that one midwife died while working at the age of 80 and there was a number of midwives past the age of seventy.
© Copyright of Neil and Janet Croft 2005