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
Kensington 1926
The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1926
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Table 3. CAUSES OF, AND AGES AT. DEATH OF INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE IN KENSINGTON DURING 1926.
| Causes of Death. | Under 1 week. | 1—2 2—3 weeks, weeks | 3—4 weeks. | Total 4 weeks | 1—3 3—6 6—9 9—12 months, months, months, months. | Total Infant Deaths under 1 year. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Common Infectious Diseases (Measles 2) (Whooping Cough 4) (Diphtheria 1) (Cerebro-spinal Meningitis 2) (Encephalitis Leth-argica 1) | — | — — | — | — | 3 | 2 | .2 | 3 | 10 |
| 2. Tuberculosis... | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| 3. Pneumonia and Bronchitis | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 8 | 46 |
| 4, Enteritis | 8 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 30 | ||||
| 5. Complications of Birth (Injury 6) (Atelectasis 1) | 7 | — — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | 7 |
| 6. Congenital Malformation ... | 4 | 2 — | — | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 7. Premature Birth | 18 | 3 1 | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | 22 |
| 8. Atrophy, Debility and Marasmus ... | 7 | 1 — | — | 8 | 4 | 8 | — | _ | 20 |
| 9. Other Diseases (Meningitis 3) (Convulsions 7) (Overlying 3) (Other Conditions 6) | 3 | 1 — | — | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 |
| Totals ...... | 39 | 8 1 | 2 | 50 | 29 | 37 | 29 | 19 | 164 |
| Death-rate in each age period per 1,000 births | 143 | 2-9 -3 | •7 | 18-4 | 10-6 | 13-6 | 10-6 | 6-9 | 60 |
| Percentage of total infant deaths occurring in each age period | 23-7 | 4-9 -6 | 1-2 | 305 | 17-7 | 22-5 | 177 | 11-5 | |
In comparing the above table with that which has appeared in previous reports, it is very
interesting to find that the decline in the infantile death rate is largely the result of a decline in
the number of deaths in the first month of life.
This improvement is an indication that the concentration of effort on ante-natal work in recent
years is beginning to tell. Not only are the mothers being advised at ante-natal clinfcs in regard to
their own health during and after pregnancy, but they are receiving other instruction which is of great
importance to the welfare of the young baby. Through lectures and home visits by experienced
workers, the expectant working-class women of North Kensington are gradually acquiring that
knowledge in mothercraft which enables them to give the young infant its greatest prospect of life.
Of the thirty infant deaths from enteritis, or summer diarrhoea, which took place during the
year, twenty-three occurred in tenement houses in North Kensington, three in tenement houses