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12
INFANT MORTALITY
Twenty-five infants under the age of one year died during 1955, as
compared with twenty-oie and nineteen in 1954- and 1953 respectively.
Seventy-six per cent. of the deaths occurred under four weeks of age. The
causes of deaths were attributed to:-
Males Females
Asphyxia 1 1
Atelectasis 1 -
Cerebral haemmorhage 1 -
Gastro-enteritis - 1
Intra-cranial haemmorhage 2 -
Malformations, Congenital 4 2
Otitis Media 1 -
Pneumonia 1 2
Prematurity 5 3
In 1954, for the first time since 1947, infant deaths rose, and an
increase is again recorded this year. During the ten years 1925 to 1934,
465 infants under one year of age died, giving an annual average of 46.5
whilst in the period 1946 to 1955, 254. deaths occurred, representing an
annual figure of 25.4. It will be noted that "Prematurity" was
responsible for thirty-two per cent. of the deaths registered. The actual
periods at which deaths occurred before infants attained to one year of
age were as follows:-
Under 4
weeks
4 weeks to
3 months
3 to 6
months
6 to 12
months
Total under
1 year
Males 12 - 2 2 16
Females 7 - 2 9
Totals: 19 - 2 4 25