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21
Little variation in the pattern of death registrations occurred
during the year, the first and fourth quarters producing 36% and
24.6% respectively, and the second quarter 18.7%.
It will be observed from the following table that during 1959
the deaths occurring at 65 years and upwards accounted for 66.3%
of the total compared with a figure of 22.8% for 1901.

MATERNAL MORTALITY
One death from puerperal causes was recorded during the
current year, a position similar to that obtaining in 1958, giving a
Maternal Death Rate of 0.74.
The death was in respect of a woman of 38 years who died in
Whipps Cross Hospital, the coroner's verdict being I (a) Paralytic
ileus due to (b) General peritonitis due to (c) Obstructed labour
(caesarian section).
INFANTILE MORTALITY
At the turn of the century, Greenwich infant mortality, i.e.
deaths of children in the first year of life, was at the rate of 140 per
1,000 live births ; the current figure is 18 per 1,000. This remarkable
reduction is nation wide and is doubtless due to a combination
of factors, not the least of which are, the almost complete absence of
malnutrition with its associated disorders such as rickets and scurvy,
the introduction of modern chemotherapy including the "sulpha"
drugs and antibiotics, the prevention of haemolytic disease of the
newborn and lastly, accurate diagnosis with conscientious nursing.
Over the years, however, owing to recent medical advances,
the problem has changed somewhat. The threat to infant life from
the dreaded "diarrhoea and vomiting" has largely disappeared,
scarlet fever and kindred diseases have become much milder, whilst
tuberculosis and diphtheria have been all but eliminated.