Midwives Act, 1931

Amendment of sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Principal Act.

2.—(1) Sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Principal Act is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that every person who attends a woman in childbirth shall, unless—

(a) such person is a midwife, or

(b) such person is a duly qualified medical practitioner, or

(c) such person being a person undergoing training with a view to becoming a duly qualified medical practitioner or a midwife gives such attention as part of a course of practical instruction in midwifery recognised by the Medical Registration Council or the Board, or

(d) such person satisfies the Court that such attention was given in a case of sudden or urgent necessity and that a midwife was not immediately available,

be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing sub-section it shall, until the 1st day of January, 1933, be lawful for any person to attend a woman in childbirth if—

(a) such person is either—

(i) a person to whom a certificate in midwifery was granted, before the 1st day of June, 1927, on examination by a lying-in-hospital recognised by the Board after, in the case of a trained medical and surgical nurse, a course of training in midwifery of three months or more or, in the case of a sick children's nurse registered in the Register of Nurses under the Nurses Registration (Ireland) Act, 1919, a course of training in midwifery of four months or more or, in any other case, a course of training in midwifery of six months or more, or

(ii) a person who, at any time before the 1st day of January, 1924, was a midwife in the permanent employment of a poor law authority, and

(b) such person gives such attention under the direction and personal supervision of a duly qualified medical practitioner.