§ 73. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of midwives in Scotland during each of the last ten years, indicating their distribution and their ratio to the number of children born in each of those years, and also the intake and reduction by marriage, resignation, death and otherwise during each of those ten years.
§ Mr. MaclayThe following table gives the information available:
97WFollowing is the Answer:
— 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 Number of births in institutions 60,060 60,701 62,015 63,511 64,591 65,959 66,049 68,497 71,106 * Number of whole-time hospital midwives 734 814 862 858 699 824 924 924 934 945 Number of part-time hospital midwives 74 91 85 83 60 72 91 104 137 146 Effective number of hospital mid-wives (for this purpose two part-time mid-wives are regarded as equivalent to one full-time midwife) 771 860 905 900 729 860 970 976 1,003 1,018 Number of pupil midwives 798 857 848 917 945 1,033 1,034 983 1,000 1,080 Number of births in institutions per hospital midwife 38.6 35.4 35.4 35.0 36.4 34.8 31.4 35.0 35.5 * Number of births at home 38,280 34,386 31,103 29,341 28,630 28,757 28,820 29,145 29,249 * Number of whole-time domiciliary midwives Figures Not Available 262 244 255 248 240 245 246 251 * Number of part-time domiciliary midwives (including full-time domiciliary nurses employed only part-time on midwifery) 928 969 938 978 971 966 981 952 * Effective number of domiciliary midwives (for this purpose regard has been had to the proportion of time spent on midwifery) 618.5 614 614.5 622 616.5 618 625 617 * Number of births at home per domiciliary midwife 56 51 48 46 47 47 47 47 * * Figures not yet available. NOTES: 1. The figures for births in institutions include a relatively small number of births in private nursing homes as well as in National Health Service hospitals. 2. The institutional staff figures include only midwives employed in National Health Service hospitals, and the domiciliary staff figures include only midwives employed by local authorities. 3. No separate figures are available for the annual intake and reduction in the number of midwives.