VPRS 17385 Labour Ward Case Book, Midwifery Department

In 1888/89 the hospital changed its Midwifery Department recordkeeping system from one record series, Midwifery Books (VPRS 17382), to two by introducing Birth Registers (VPRS 17383) and the more detailed Labour Ward Case Books that form this series. The Case Books form a chronological sequence in which the patients of all the Honorary Physicians are recorded.There seems also to have been a transitional stage when individual doctors maintained their own midwifery case books, as was done in the Infirmary Department, as there are two extant Honorary Physicians' Case Books (VPRS 17384) covering the period 1888-1891, and there may have been others.The earliest extant Labour Ward Case Book is Labour Book No. 2 (1888-1892), suggesting the existence of an earlier volume that has been lost. Other volumes may well have been lost also, as numbering and dates are not consecutive or complete.Labour Book No. 2 duplicates some of the cases recorded in the two Honorary Physicians' Case Books. There are however many more cases in the doctors' Case Books which are not in Labour Book No. 2. It is not known if the other Honorary Physicians also had their own Case Books at this time and therefore how complete the record in the Labour Book No. 2 or the other early case book is.The Labour Ward Case Books from this early period are very large leather bound volumes. A microfilm copy is held by the Royal Women's Hospital.The second surviving sequence of Labour Ward Case books commenced in 1926. At this time there was one labour ward (Ward 30) situated on the ground floor of the Edward Wilson Wing in Cardigan Street. In 1958 a second labour ward (Ward 19) opened on the 6th floor of the recently constructed Kumm Stephens Block and a new sequence began for that ward.The records were maintained in substantially smaller leather bound volumes until 1969/72 when the Midwifery Department progressively moved into six new labour wards in the newly built 3AW Community Services Block. At that stage they changed to large format (550mm x 340mm) volumes bound with cardboard and linen (essentially oversized exercise books), except for the first volume used in Frances Perry House which was in the previous format. These volumes form a continuous chronological and almost unbroken sequence from c. 6 May 1926 to 31 December 1972.As each new Labour Ward opened it began to keep its own records, and so there are sequences from each ward:Labour Ward 24 27/11/1969 - 31/12/1982Labour Ward 34 3/7/1969 - 26/2/1973Labour Ward 44 30/3/1971 - 31/12 1982Labour Ward 54/Family Birth Unit 3/7/1969 - 31/12/1982Labour Ward 64 8/6/1970 - 18/12/1972Frances Perry House 5/11/1970 - 31/3/1972, 20/6/1972 - 31/12/1982One volume shows the transition from Labour Ward 19 to the new Labour Ward 24 on 7 June 1969. When the Family Birth Centre opened it continued using the same volume as its predecessor, Ward 54.Home births conducted by the Women's Hospital in the period 1920-1951 are recorded in Extern Case Books (VPRS 17389).Series HistoryPrior to transfer to Public Record Office Victoria, the records in this series were maintained as part of the RWH Archives in RWH series number 0156.

1888/89年，该医院将其助产科室（Midwifery Department）的档案管理系统从单一的助产书籍档案系列（VPRS 17382）拆分为两个系列：新增了出生登记册（Birth Registers，VPRS 17383），以及本档案系列所收录的更为详尽的产房病例簿（Labour Ward Case Books）。该病例簿按时间顺序编排，收录了所有名誉医师（Honorary Physicians）接诊的患者信息。彼时似乎存在一段过渡阶段：部分医师如内科病房（Infirmary Department）那般自行保管个人助产病例簿，现存有1888-1891年间的两册名誉医师病例簿（VPRS 17384），推测当时或存在更多同类档案。
现存最早的产房病例簿为1888-1892年的第2号产房登记簿（Labour Book No.2），这表明此前曾有更早的档案册，但已佚失。由于档案编号与日期均不连贯、不完整，其余卷册大概率也已散佚。
第2号产房登记簿与两册名誉医师病例簿所记录的部分病例存在重复，但医师病例簿中还包含大量第2号登记簿未收录的病例。目前尚不明确当时其余名誉医师是否也自行保管了个人病例簿，因此无法确认第2号产房登记簿或其他早期病例簿的记录完整性。
早期的产房病例簿均为大型皮革装帧册，现存有缩微胶片副本藏于皇家女子医院（Royal Women's Hospital）。
第二套现存的产房病例簿序列始于1926年。彼时医院仅设有一间产房（30号病房），位于卡迪根街的爱德华·威尔逊翼楼（Edward Wilson Wing）底层。1958年，新建的库姆·斯蒂芬斯大楼（Kumm Stephens Block）6层增设了第二间产房（19号病房），并为该病房建立了新的病例簿序列。
1969/72年期间，助产科室逐步迁入新建的3AW社区服务大楼（3AW Community Services Block）的六间新产房，此前一直使用的小型皮革装帧病例簿自此停用，转而采用尺寸为550mm×340mm的硬纸板与亚麻装帧的大幅面档案册（本质为超大号练习簿），仅弗朗西斯·佩里楼（Frances Perry House）使用的首册档案仍沿用此前的装帧格式。该套档案从约1926年5月6日至1972年12月31日形成了连续且近乎完整的时间序列。
随着每间新产房的启用，各病房均建立了独立的病例簿记录，各病房的档案序列如下：
- 24号产房：1969年11月27日-1982年12月31日
- 34号产房：1969年7月3日-1973年2月26日
- 44号产房：1971年3月30日-1982年12月31日
- 54号/家庭分娩单元（Family Birth Unit）：1969年7月3日-1982年12月31日
- 64号产房：1970年6月8日-1972年12月18日
- 弗朗西斯·佩里楼（Frances Perry House）：1970年11月5日-1972年3月31日，1972年6月20日-1982年12月31日
另有一册档案记录了1969年6月7日从19号产房迁至24号产房的过渡情况。家庭分娩中心启用后，沿用了其前身54号病房的同一套档案册。
1920-1951年间由皇家女子医院开展的家庭分娩服务，其相关记录收录于外部病例簿（Extern Case Books，VPRS 17389）。
档案系列沿革：在移交至维多利亚州公共档案馆（Public Record Office Victoria）之前，本系列档案作为皇家女子医院档案的一部分，归入RWH档案序列0156。