View report page

48
There were 2 maternal deaths recorded for Greenwich during
1969, one concerned a female of 26 years whose death resulted from
"therapeutic abortion and sterilisation", the coroner's verdict being
one of "misadventure". Against a maternal death rate of 0.19 for
England and Wales, this Borough returned a figure of 0.60 compared
with 0.29 for 1968. Excluding abortion, the rate is modified
to 0.30 to compare with 0.20 and 0.21, the rates for Greater and
Inner London respectively.
Infantile Mortality
Infant Mortality of any given locality is measured by relating the
number of deaths of children under one year of age recorded
during the year to the number of live births registered for that
particular area during the same period.
Bad housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, low standards of
education, illegitimacy, all tend to produce higher infant mortality
rates. It follows therefore that the infant mortality rate should
provide a reasonably accurate indication of the social circumstances
of any particular area. However, it must be borne in mind
that as infant mortality has now reached relatively small proportions,
any slight deviation in the number of deaths tends to
misleading fluctuations in the rate and only a long-term appraisal is
likely to reflect the true position.
Since the beginning of the century substantial improvements
have been achieved. In 1901 the infant mortality rate for the area
now known as the London Borough of Greenwich was 130 per
1,000 live births, the actual number of children dying before
reaching the age of 1 year being 818. Comparable figures for 1969
are 17.77 and 58 respectively.
However, despite the fact that since 1949 actual infant deaths
have declined from 96 to 58 (a reduction of 39.6%), neonatal
deaths have not shown a pro rata decrease. Indeed, the reverse is
true. Twenty years ago neonatal deaths formed 60.4% of all infant
deaths whereas today the figure is 72.4%. Over the same period,
early neonatal deaths exhibit a similar tendency rising from 50%
to 65.5%, thereby emphasising the refractory nature of early
childhood hazards despite improved ante-natal services and
advances in chemotherapeutics and diagnostic techniques. Moreover,
it is becoming clear that methods which previously have been
so successful in reducing infant mortality will not suffice to
subjugate this seemingly intractable problem of perinatal deaths.