Autograph 'Register of Cases' by Dorothy J. Johnson, midwife, in 'Central Midwives Board' register, giving details of 250 births in the Stoke-on-Trent area between 1951 and 1953.

The register proper consists of 50pp., foolscap 8vo, with ten births described over each of the 25 openings (total 250). It is preceded by a page carrying Johnson's details (her address is given as 9 Ashlands Crescent, Harpfield, Stoke-on-Trent, and her certificate number is 106889), facing the reverse of the front wrap, which carries a notice headed 'On no account must this Register be destroyed. It may be of importance for the defence of the Midwife herself.' In buff wraps, with 'Central Midwives Board. | Register of Cases' and the printing details on the front. In fair condition, on aged paper, with the wraps reinforced with tape. The cases are numbered 496 to 745, with the details given in 16 columns: No.; Date of expected confinement; Name and address of patient; Age; No. of previous labours and miscarriages; Date and hour of midwife's arrival; Presentation; Date and hour of child's birth; Sex of Child: Born Living or Dead; Full time or premature. No. of weeks; Name of doctor if called; Complications (if any) during or after labour; Date of Midwife's last visit; Conditions of mother then; Condition of child then; REMARKS. There is a footnote to the final section: 'If any drug, except a simple aperient, has been administered, or applied in any way, state here the name and dose of the drug and the time and cause of its administration or application.', but the 'Remarks' column is by no means confined to that information, and it also contains details of dosages of medicine administered. The register is completed in blue ink, with still births and other deaths in red. In one case a baby born to a woman who 'Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage' 'Showed No Signs of Life'; another is described as 'S. B. | Huge Hydrocephalic & Spina Bifida'); and a third 'Hydrocephalus. Collapse of skull bones, due to perforation of skull'. Most of the births listed in the register were delivered by Johnson herself, but by no means all: a number of practising midwives are named, and a 'Dr. Chodorowski' features prominently.