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23
The actual number of infantile deaths recorded during the year
was 24 (4 more than last year) and these were attributed to the
following causes:—
Prematurity 9
Congenital
Malformations 6
Bronchitis 2
Nephrogenic Diabetes
Insipidens 1
Accident 1
Bronchopneumonia 1
Meningococcal
Infection 1
Haemolytic Disease of
the Newborn 1
Birth Injury 1
Unascertainable 1
Of the above, 13 were male and 11 female; 10 died in St.
Alfege's Hospital, 1 in the Miller Hospital, 2 at home and 10 in
hospitals and institutions outside the Borough. One newly born
male child was found on the river foreshore.
Neo-Natal Mortality.—Neo-natal mortality, i.e., infants dying
before attaining the age of one month, accounted for 15 deaths,
equivalent to 62.5% of all infant deaths and giving a Neo-natal
Mortality Rate of 11.29 per 1,000 live births. This compares favourably
with the figure of 15.8 returned for England and Wales.
Thirteen of these neo-natal deaths occurred within the first week of
birth, the main cause being Prematurity.
Perinatal Mortality.—The Perinatal Mortality Rate, calculated
from a total of 35 still births and deaths of infants under 1 week,
was 25.92 per 1,000 total births compared with 30.79 for the previous
year. The equivalent rate for England and Wales is 34.2.
Reproductive Wastage.—A sum total of 46 Stillbirths and
Infantile deaths gives a reproductive wastage rate of 34.07 per 1,000
total births, a decrease of 1.85 from the 1958 figure.
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.