London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Coulsdon and Purley 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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MATERNAL MORTALITY.
There were no deaths associated with childbirth during 1945, compared
with 2, 1, 1, 1, 3 and 2 in the preceding war years. As will be
seen in the table of vital statistics, with the exception of 1940 the
maternal mortality rate has remained consistently at a low level and
has compared favourably with the national rates which have broken
low level record after record. The lowest maternal mortality rate for
England and Wales was in 1944, when at 1.92 it was slightly higher
than the average of the local rates for the war years. When the difficulties
are considered against which midwives, doctors and hospital
staffs have worked during these years, this achievement is all the more
remarkable and commendable.
The causes of the maternal deaths during the years 1939-1945 are given in the following table:—
| Causes. | 1939. | 1940. | 1941. | 1942. | 1943. | 1944. | 1945. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerperal sepsis | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Eclampsia | - | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Complication following Caesarian section | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Toxaemia | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Heart failure following subacute nephritis | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| Rupture of tubal pregnancy | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Totals | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — |
INFANT MORTALITY.
During 1945 there were 25 deaths among the children under one year
of age, as compared with 28, 32, 38, 29, 23 and 34 in the preceding war
years.
The national infantile mortality rate, which had been dropping
steadily until the war, had a temporary set-back lasting until 1941 but
has since been consistently falling to beat all records with rates of 49
in 1943, 45 in 1944 and 46 in 1945. While the local rate fluctuated
more and was rather high at 52 in 1941, the average rate of 39.7 for the
war years was only slightly more than in the five years immediately
preceding the war and compares quite favourably with the national rate.
During the last five years it has steadily decreased, being 52, 45, 36, 33
and 32 in 1945.
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