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
Dagenham 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Dagenham]
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44
Each of these factors would of course account only for some
fractional diminution but their effect would definitely be to
lower the Infant Mortality Rate for this district as compared
with that of the country as a whole.
The 75 deaths amongst the 1,210 births registered can be
divided into 47 out of the 592 males, and 28 out of the 618
females, giving for male infants a mortality rate of 80.1 and
females 45, the comparable figures for England and Wales in
1926 being 79.1 and 60.9. This shows that our favourable
position of Infant Mortality is one due entirely to a deficiency
of deaths amongst the female babies, the mortality amongst
the males being the same as that for the country.
Below is a table showing the death rate for various disease for each sex in England and Wales for 1926 and for thi district in 1927.
| England & Wales. | Dagenham. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | |
| Measles, Whooping Cough and Infectious Diseases | 4.3 | 4.4 | - | - |
| Diarrhoea and Enteritis | 8.9 | 6.6 | 15 | 6.4 |
| Premature Births, | 19.6 | 15.3 | 20 | 3.2 |
| Congenital Debility, Developmental and Wasting Diseases | 13 6 | 10.2 | 12 | 8.0 |
| Tubercular Disease | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | - |
| Convulsions | 4.2 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Bronchitis & Pneumonia | 16 2 | 12.2 | 25 3 | 21 |
| Other Causes | 10.9 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 4.8 |
| Total | 79.1 | 60.9 | 80.3 | 45 |
It will be seen that the saving amongst these female deaths
falls almost entirely under the column for premature births
and to a slight extent the congenital defects and debility; and
that the sum total of deaths due to causes which are influenced
by environment arc the same as those for the country. Why
there should be this small number of premature births amongst
the females, especially as the male figures are normal is difficult
to explain. Should the premature births amongst females
occur in any year at the normal rate, and other conditions
remain the same, our Infant Mortality Rate will rise to the rate
obtaining for the country; and this without the healthiness of
the locality diminishing.