Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the decrease in the numbers of practising midwives and the danger of a breakdown in the maternity service, he will take steps to effect an improvement in wages and conditions of service for all actively engaged midwives; and what explanation he can offer for the substantial falling-off in mid-wives practising in 1941 as compared with 1940?
§ Mr. E. BrownI have appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Rushcliffe, to draw up agreed scales of salaries and emolument for midwives. The 191W numerous calls upon nurses, many of whom are also midwives, are, I think, mainly responsible for the fact that some of the midwives previously practising have been diverted into other channels.