London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1915
Sixtieth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington
This page requires JavaScript
15
[1915
In London the infant mortality rate was 112 per 1,000 births, while
in the six boroughs encircling Islington it was 114 per 1,000. The rate for
England and Wales was 110 per 1,000 births.
The following Table shows the diseases that are most fatal at the earlier
periods of child life, together with the mortality rates per 1,000 births.
TABLE X.
| Causes of Death. | Mean rate of 3 years 1901-2-3 per 1,000 Births. | 1915. | Mean rate 10 years 1905-14 per 1,000 Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premature Birth and Congenital Defects | 24.25 | 22.16 | 22.77 |
| Bronchitis and Pneumonia | 25.67 | 20.17 | 19.79 |
| Atrophy and Marasmus | 20.54 | 18.70 | 14.78 |
| Diarrhœal Diseases (all forms) | 19.01 | 16.45 | 20.39 |
| Convulsions | 6.66 | 1.73 | 2.27 |
| Whooping Cough | 6.44 | 4.51 | 4.53 |
| Measles | 3.27 | 3.45 | 2.98 |
| Phthisis | 1.85 | 0.13 | 0.48 |
| Other forms of Tuberculosis | 5.68 | 2.52 | 4.05 |
| Diphtheria | 0.43 | 0.26 | 0.24 |
| Total of above | 113.80 | 90.08 | 92.28 |
| All other causes | 18.91 | 16.72 | 16.93 |
| Total | 132.71 | 106.80 | 109.21 |
The series of Tables that follow relating to infant mortality may prove
interesting, especially those showing the result of investigations into the feeding
of infants under twelve months old, who died from diarrhœal diseases. There
it will be seen that a very large proportion of them had never been fed at
their mother's breast; for during the last seven years, only 17, or 20 per
cent., of the 85 infants under three months old, were properly fed; while out
of 232 children under six months old, only 31, or 13.3 per cent., were breast
fed.