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4
in Hampstead, is nearly 66 per cent. of the total infantile
mortality rate. The number of children dying under 4 weeks has
dropped, but it has not fallen to anything like the extent of
children over 4 weeks. Looked at in another way, only 8 children
died between the ages of 4 weeks and 12 months. 16 died within
the first 4 weeks of life.
If we are to reduce infantile mortality to an even
lower figure than the 17 per 1,000 births recorded this year,
then we must examine the causes of the neo-natal mortality.
In 1954 6 deaths were due to prematurity and 8 to congenital
malformations. In the past we have tended to look upon congenital
malformation as inevitable and unpreventable. Recent
experience however has shown that this is far from so.
We have reason to believe that certain virus infections
during the early months of pregnancy may cause foetal
malformation. In the second place there is an increased
liability to foetal abnormality as the age of the mother at
the birth of the child advances. It is possible that earlier
child bearing and the protection of the expectant mother from
virus infection during the early months of pregnancy might
reduce neo-natal mortality and better still reduce the number
of children brought into this world with physical and even
mental handicaps.
There were no deaths from poliomyelitis in 1954,
against 2 in the previous year. We see a distinct drop in the
number of cancer deaths, which is probably due to the change in
the manner of allocating deaths which occur in St. Columba's
Hospital. These deaths are now transferred to the district in
which the home address of the deceased is situated.
In 1953 gastritis, enteritis and diarrhoea was the
cause of death in six instances. Of these, one was of a child
under 2 years, the other five being persons over the age of 15
years. In 1954 only 1 death was attributed to this cause and
this was in a person over 75 years of age. The following figures
show that this disease which once used to kill large numbers of
children, especially under the age of two years, has virtually
been eliminated:
1904 1914 1924 1934 1954
Deaths from gastritis, enteritis
and diarrhoea under 2 years of age 22 9 10 7 Nil
A welcome drop of three occurred in the deaths from