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
Carshalton 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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INFANT MORTALITY
Eleven deaths of infants under the age of one year gave an infant
mortality rate of 15.4 per 1,000 live births which is the second lowest on
record for the district and compares with 23.8 for the Country as a whole.
A favourable feature of this mortality is the fact that ten of the eleven
deaths occurred during the first week of life, all of which were due to what
have been described as the "unavoidable" causes of death namely prematurity,
congenital deformalities etc., conditions existing at birth which in
the main makes survival impossible. Only one death—from pneumonia at
five months—occurred in an infant born healthy. All but one were deaths of
legitimate children.
TABLE 6.
| Ward | Infant Deaths | Rate per 1,000 Live Births |
|---|---|---|
| St. Helier North | 1 | 12.3 |
| St. Helier South | 1 | 12.0 |
| St. Helier West | 1 | 12.9 |
| North-East | 2 | 16.2 |
| North-West | 1 | 13.6 |
| Central | — | — |
| South-East | 2 | 16.3 |
| South-West | 3 | 38.9 |
TABLE 7.
INFANT MORTALITY DURING THE YEAR 1956.
Deaths Classified as to Cause and Age at Death.
| Cause of death | Under 1 wk | 1—2 wks | 2—3 wks | 3-4 wks | Total under 4 wks | 4 wks and under 3 mths | 3 mths and under 6 mths | 6 mths and under 9 mths | 9 mths and under 12 mths | Total deaths under 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prematurity | 7 | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | 7 |
| Congenital Malformation | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Atelectasis | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Pneumonia | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Totals | 10 | — | — | — | 10 | — | 1 | — | — | 11 |
MATERNAL MORTALITY
The year was again without a death due to maternity. The large
measure of safety which the Maternity Services have bestowed on childbirth
is evidenced by the fact that only one such death has been recorded
in the district in the last twelve years and that single instance was following
abortion, the cause of which was not ascertained.
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