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8
COMMENTS ON VITAL STATISTICS
Births.
Following the post-war increase in the birth-rate, which reached its peak of
23.55 per thousand population in 1947, there was a drop in each succeeding year
until 1951, when the rate was 16.45. Since then each year has recorded a slight
increase, and the rate for 1954 was 17.6 as against the previous year's rate of 17.0.
The proportion of births classified as illegitimate remains fairly constant at 8.3
per cent, of all the 1954 births.
Principal Causes of Death.
The death-rate, at 10.52 per thousand population, is the lowest death-rate to be
recorded in the Borough. Principal causes of death are discussed below.
Infants under One Tear. The infant mortality rate of 17 per thousand live births
is by a substantial margin the lowest ever recorded in the history of the Borough.
The infant deaths have been analysed in the table on page 7 and the largest group
of reductions have been in those deaths associated with premature birth. This is
extremely gratifying, since the causes of premature birth can only be dealt with
during pregnancy, and can only be dealt with by the better health of the expectant
mother and her more detailed care by the doctor, midwife and health visitor. The
premature infant, of course, also needs special care, but its best chance lies in the
avoidance of prematurity as far as this can be done. Deaths from pneumonia in
infants under one year also showed a considerable reduction, and the deaths from
this cause were almost entirely confined to very young infants under the age of one
month.
The startling reduction in infant deaths emphasises my observation in the 1953
Report that even with the low rate for the latter year, there was still room for
improvement. Although this observation still applies, it is difficult to apply preventive
measures to what is now the largest single group of infant deaths, namely, those
due to congenital malformation, birth injury, atelectasis, atrophy and marasmus.
The other cause of infant wastage, viz. stillbirths, also showed a welcome
reduction in the stillbirth-rates from 22.66 to 19.31, but the total number of stillbirths
registered, 80, exceeded in 1954 the total infant deaths, 70, under the age of one
year.
Deaths from Other Causes.
Respiratory Tuberculosis. The deaths from this cause, at 37, were the same as in
the previous year, although that was the lowest recorded.

As mentioned in my previous Report, the number of deaths from this cause
now considerably exceeds those due to the previously mentioned cause, respiratory
tuberculosis. There is increasing acceptance of the view that the chances of lung
cancer are increased very materially by tobacco smoking, especially in the form of