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7
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
Infantile mortality, that is to say, the proportion of deaths
of infants under one year to every 1,000 children born was 149;
the deaths for the past six years were—
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
184
169
150
138
136
149
The chief causes of death were Measles, Whooping Cough,
Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and diseases of the Digestive Organs,
probably in most cases the result of improper feeding.
It will be seen that the deaths of infants under one year of age
has increased during the last year; this has been the case
throughout the whole country, although the climatic conditions
of last summer did not favour any prolonged prevalence of
epidemic diarrhoea, still the number of deaths registered from
diarrhoea and enteritis for the year under consideration numbered
110, of children under one year, whilst for the previous
year, 1903, 73 only were recorded.
The printed instructions upon the feeding and care of infants,
which the Public Health Committee in the year 190 1 recommended
should be distributed throughout the Borough, through
the co-operation of the Registrars of Births, the Poor Law
Medical Officers, District Nurses, and others, are still being
distributed.
Table
SHEWING THE NUMBER OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE
BOROUGH DURING THE YEAR 1904.
BIRTHS
3265
DEATHS (including 484 in Outlying Institutions)
1824
Excess of Births over Deaths
1441