Salvation Army maternity hospital: The Mothers' Hospital

These are the papers of The Mothers' Hospital, 1908-1986.

The Mothers' Hospital was a Salvation Army Maternity Hospital at 153-163 Lower Clapton Road, Clapton E5. It was opened on 18 October 1913, replacing an earlier Salvation Army hospital at Ivy House 271 Mare Street, Hackney E8, which had been opened in 1884. The Mothers' Hospital also trained midwives and administered District Maternity Posts in surrounding areas.

As records after 1948 are hospital records and therefore public records, the majority of surviving records for the Mothers' Hospital are deposited at St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives in East London. (These records have been catalogued and are available to researchers.)

The remaining records here were not kept in any original order, so they have been grouped into a logical structure. Many of the items in the collection have been closed due to personal and sensitive information under the Data Protection Act.

The arrangement of the records is as follows:

MH/1 Minutes

MH/2 Correspondence

MH/3 Reports and Papers

MH/4 Midwives' District Registers

MH/5 Dedication Register

MH/6 Photographs

The Mothers' Hospital was a Salvation Army Maternity Hospital at 153-163 Lower Clapton Road, Clapton E5. It was opened on 18 October 1913, replacing an earlier Salvation Army hospital at Ivy House 271 Mare Street, Hackney E8, which had been opened in 1884. The Hospital provided training for student midwives as well as maternity services for unmarried women, and later for married women too. The Hospital suffered damage during the Second World War, and arrangements were made for evacuation to Willersley Castle in Matlock, Derbyshire and to Bragborough Hall, Northamptonshire. However, the Hospital remained in service throughout the war for those who did not leave London. The hospital was jointly run with the NHS from 1948, and remained open until 1986. All obstetric services were then transferred to the Homerton Hospital.

(Please consult our online catalogue for an extended history supplied by St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives: http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/Catalogue.)

This collection is partially open to the public. Records of a personal nature relating to identified individuals are closed for the lifespan of the individual. When it is not possible to establish whether an individual has died, a closure period of 84 years (if the individual was an adult when the record was created) or 100 years (if the individual was a child when the record was created) is imposed under the Data Protection Act. Former patients can apply for access to their own records. Please enquire for details. Open files can be viewed in the reading room of The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, open Tue-Fri 9.30-4.00. To make an appointment or to enquire about your own records, phone: 0207 326 7800; or email: heritage@salvationarmy.org.uk .

Catalogued by Naomi Sharp, November 2008, and Ruth Macdonald, October 2014

Most surviving records of The Mother's Hospital (particularly post-1948) are deposited at St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives in East London.