, 1885-07-04

under the superintendent of the Kings
Physician, and in the execution of their
duties have c~onScientiouSly to follow the
general Instruction for midwives {" Instrux
for Jordem0dre") and also the rules.
touching their department, which NAV later
be given them. Should any midwife
transgreSs in regard to the obligations
resting upon her according to the present
Ordinance or according to the Instructions
gwen her, she shall be punished, so far as
the 1ault committed does not carry with it
a heavier punishment in accordance with
the laws i'll force, by fines, which accrue to
the Police Fund, and, in case of repetition
uhaer a%8raVating circumstances. and par.
ucnlariy when she has repeatedly refused
10 attend without delay a woman in con.
nnement, she shall be punished by the loss
OF her appointment.
II any midwife abuses the trust which
" woman shews by making her q confidant
she shall be Immediately punished by
the loss OF her appointment.
ST.
Suits arising out of the present Ordi.
nance shall be dealt with as Police
suits.
The time at which the present Ordinance
shall come into force is to be fixed by
Government.
REMARKS.
6d ! l.. The absence of reliable attend.
ance at birth is one OF the principal causes
OF the great mortality among the children
III st. Croix. This mortality threatens,
unless vigorous measures are taken, co
reduce the already scanty labouring popu
latIon so much that it is doubtful how
long the cultivation of the island can be
Kept up without having recourse to an
expensive and constant immigration of
foreign labOurerS.
Both on this ground and also because it
is one of the first duties of a we'll ordered
community to protect the new born child
against the dangers which threaten its
young life, there dare no longer he any
poStponement III taking the necessary
steps to institute a well ordered midwife
department in st. Croix.
For this is required the appointment of
the necessary number of trained midwives
both in the towns and in the country, and
also the suppression OF all unauthorized
assistance at birth. or at all events a
restriction Of it III such a way that no harm
can be done.
According to the statements of the
Kings Physician, which are also confirmed
by information from the Police, the
average number Of the births in the 8
years lSSl-S3 has been 906, of which 435
occurred in the two towns, half in each,
and the remainder in the country. In the
opinion Of the Kings Physician, which is
shared also by the Government, there
ought TO be = midwives for each town and
,neighbourhood, and 5 for the country,
therefore 9 in all, in order to be able to-
reckon on every birth being attended by
an authorised midwife in the proper way.
For comparison it may be mentioned that
while according to this plan there will be-
one midwife here for every 1000 inhabi-
tants, there was in Denmark in 1880 one
midwife for every 1926 inhabitants. The
island ought, therefore, to be divided into
Q Midwife Districts as proposed in s l.
0d s s 2, 3 and 4. The salaries &c. of
the District Midwives are fixed in s 2 in
accordance with the amounts voted for
salaries on the Budgets for several years
past, to which is added, as in the Mother
Country, a moderate additional salary
after 10 and Is years. good service, also,
according to 5 4, access to q pension.
The expenses connected with the carry
ing out of this Ordinance will be about
1890 yearly, besides eventually the
additional salaries and pensions, besides
also the aid towards furnishing sc. 100000,