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44 infantile mortality.

Attention has been called ill recent reports to the number of children whose births have been
registered simultaneously with, or subsequent to the registration of their deaths.* Last year
97 births were so registered, but the designation " Hopeless Births" which has been introduced
in previous reports, does not apply to all the cases noted last year. Deaths due to diarrhœa
(4), overlaying (1) and possibly some of those due to the respiratory diseases can, or ought to
be, preventible. Particulars of the sexes of the children, their ages at death and certified
causes thereof, are given in Table 34. Last year's total (97) shows a fair reduction below
the numbers recorded in previous years, viz., 103 in 1909, 99 in 1908, 124 in 1907, and 99 in
1906. It is thought that the reduction may be due to earlier registration of birth which has
resulted from the Registrars following up births which have been notified. Those Officers
make a weekly search through the Register of Notifications.
* In several of the countries of Europe, children who have been born alive but die before the registration of
their births, are counted as still-born, and are ignored in calculating the infantile mortality. The extent to which
such practice understates the infantile mortality—according to English practice—may be judged from the figures
for Paris for 1908. During that year 608 children were entered as " still-born " although they breathed after birth.
If that number be added to the live births (50,820) and to the deaths under one year (5,214), an infantile mortality
of 113 per 1,000 will be obtained instead of 102 if only the live births and deaths are used.