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Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Maternal and Child Health Services: 1938

U.S. Department of Labor
CHILDREN’S BUREAU

Washington, D.C.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH SERVICES OF THE U.S. CHILDREN’S BUREAU

December 3 and 4, 1938

I.   Selection, training, and compensation of personnel.

1.   The advisory committee, recognizing that efficient administration of the maternal and child-health services depends upon the employment of fully qualified personnel and that personnel with such qualifications are not always resident within each State, urges that (1) selection of personnel be on the basis of qualifications only and (2) that salaries commensurate with the qualifications required and services performed be paid.

2.   It is the sense of this committee that the American Medical Association be asked to use its influence through its various component societies to promote the acceptance and attainment of desirable standards regarding qualifications of all official personnel in health departments, and to work to the end that merit systems be established in all States and political subdivisions.

3.   The committee recommends that physicians and nurses participating in maternity clinics and child-health conferences under the maternal and child-health programs be given special training for this type of service and that continued supervision and consultation by approved specialists in these fields be provided by State health authorities to maintain adequate standards of obstetric and pediatric service.

4.   The committee recommends that the qualifications of directors of maternal and child-health divisions be: (1) Graduation from medical schools approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association, (2) thorough training in pediatrics or obstetrics or both, preferably training and experience required for certification by the American Board of Pediatrics or of Obstetrics and Gynecology, (3) eligibility for examination for medical licensure in the State in which service is to be rendered, (4) preferably, training in the fundamentals of public health.

5.   The committee recommends that the same fundamental requirements be recommended for assistant directors except that less stress be placed on administrative experience.

6.   The committee recommends that local practicing physicians paid from maternal and child-health funds for services in child-health or maternity clinics and conferences (1) shall be licensed to practice in the State, (2) shall be graduates of medical schools approved by the Councils on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association, (3) should be devoting a considerable proportion of their practice to pediatrics or obstetrics, and (4) should have had or shall receive special training in the conduct of these clinics and should be selected from among the outstanding practitioners of obstetrics or pediatrics in their communities.

7.   To qualify as full-time clinical consultants in obstetrics or pediatrics or other specialty, physicians should be certified by their respective American boards or have had the training and experience required for certification by the American boards of their respective specialties and, in addition, have had experience in the practice of medicine.

         To qualify as part-time clinical consultants in obstetrics or pediatrics under the maternal and child-health programs, practicing physicians should be certified by the respective American boards or have had the training and experience required for certification by the American boards of their respective specialties. If physicians having such qualifications are not available, the State health agency, after consultation with a committee of physicians appointed by the State health officer to advise on the selection of physicians, should designate the physicians best qualified to serve as clinical consultants in obstetrics or pediatrics (or other specialty).

II.      Cooperation with other agencies.

Recognizing the need for technical advice in the development of the maternal and child-health programs in the States, the committee recommends: That the State health agency administering the maternal and child-health program make use of expert advice available through such professional groups as the State maternal and child-welfare committees, State organizations of public-health nurses, social workers, nutritionists, or other professional groups, and through physicians certified by, or having the training and experience required for certification by, their respective specialty boards, or through other individuals with special interest in and knowledge of the problems of maternal and child health.

III.     Hospital standards.

The committee recommends that the Children’s Bureau take steps to secure the cooperation of various professional and administrative groups and of the State health departments in formulating standards for hospitals and maternity homes caring for mothers, infants, and children and that attempts be made by securing effective State licensure of hospitals and maternity homes and by other means to establish and maintain hospitals which conform to acceptable standards of care for mothers, infants, and children.

Source: Harriet M. Bartlett Papers. Box 4. Folder 35. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Social Welfare History Archives, Minneapolis, MN.

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