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Maternal Mortality.
The number of deaths resulting from child birth was seven, of
which three were due to Puerperal Sepsis.
From a perusal of the statistics relating to still-births, and
infant and maternal mortality, it will be noted that seven mothers
lost their lives in child-birth, or its sequelae, fifty-eight infants died
before they were a month old, and eighty-two children were born
dead.
On investigation it was found that a considerable number of
these deaths were from causes preventable, or probably preventable,
had the mothers received efficient, and sufficient, ante-natal supervision
throughout the period of pregnancy.
It is an unfortunate fact that many prospective mothers receive
no ante-natal care whatsoever, while others attend a Clinic only
occasionally or rarely in the last few weeks of pregnancy, when the
chance of preventing a still-birth, a neo-natal death, or even a
maternal death, are reduced to a minimum.
In support of the conclusions drawn in the preceding paragraphs,
1 may say that as a result of the investigations made into the circumstances
of fifty-eight still-births and the same number of neo-natal
deaths, it was found that forty-four mothers received no ante-natal
care whatsoever; fourteen paid an occasional visit to their own
doctor; fifteen were supervised by a midwife ; thirty-four attended
a Hospital Clinic, and nine had attended one of the three Ante-Natal
Clinics provided by the Borough Council,