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Perinatal Mortality.—The Perinatal Mortality Rate, calculated
from a total of 53 stillbirths and deaths of infants under 1 week,was
41.43 per 1,000 total births compared with 33.1 for the previous
year. The equivalent rate for England & Wales is 36.2.
Reproductive Wastage.—A sum total of 66 Stillbirths and
Infantile deaths gives a reproductive wastage rate of 51.6 per 1,000
total births.
Bad housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, low standards of
education, all tend to produce higher Infant Mortality Rates. It
follows, therefore, that the Infant Mortality Rate should provide a
good index to the social circumstances of any particular area.
However, Infant Mortality Rates which are based on the
number of births occurring in the same year as the infant deaths are
not comparable year by year unless the birth rates remain more
or less constant because approximately one-third of the infants
dying in any one year will be found to have been born in the
previous year.
Further, it must be borne in mind that when dealing with small
figures the slightest deviation in the number of deaths tends to
misleading fluctuations in the rate. Consequently care must be
exercised when drawing conclusions from any rise or fall in Infant
Mortality Rates.
REMARKS ON VARIOUS DEATH CAUSES.
Recognising the importance of ensuring as far as possible the
uniformity and comparability of statistics in relation to diseases and
causes of death, the Registrar-General has, from 1st January, 1950,
implemented the Nomenclature Regulations, 1948, as suggested by
the World Health Organisation. Although these regulations are
not binding on Medical Officers of Health, it is essential that the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and
Causes of Death, 1955, should be adopted in order that local
statistics can be compared with national figures and national
with international.
Classification of Deaths.—It should be borne in mind that
the statistical data compiled locally relating to cause of death may
not entirely agree with the figures furnished to Local Authorities by
the Registrar-General. Classification of the cause of death is taken
from one or more causes as stated on the medical certificate in
accordance with the rules generally adopted throughout England
and Wales.