View report page

INFANTILE MORTALITY.
45

Last year's "Hopeless Births" included 9 of illegitimate children, equal to rather more
than 9 per cent. of the total, the proportion of such births to the total births registered being
5.3 per cent. The total of 97 also included 14 children born in multiple births, 11 being
twins and 3 triplets. Of the 39 children dying during the first twenty-four hours of life, 3
were entered as " new born," 3 as less than 1 hour old, 21 as having lived from 1-12 hours,
and 7, 12-24 hours.
If the births which may fairly be described as "hopeless " be put at 92, the elimination of
such deaths (and births) from the calculation of the infantile mortality reduces the nett rate
from 101 to 72, and the corrected rate from 97 to 69.
In Table VI, Appendix A, is given an analysis of the deaths at ages under one year
according to cause, sex, and age contrasted with the (uncorrected) annual numbers
for the five years 1905-09. The figures given there show a saving of 58 lives, viz.:—
35 of males, and 23 of females, but after making allowance for the smaller number of children
born during the past year, the saving is found to amount to 52 lives, 27 of males, and 25 of
females. The age-group nett mortality rates for the two sexes are given below, and show a
fairly considerable increase (10 per cent.) in the rate for males under one month, and a slightly
greater increase (13 per cent.) in that for females aged 1-3 months. At all other ages the
rates recorded last year were lower than the mean rates.