View report page

11
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
There were 41 deaths of infants under one year of age, as
against 776 births; the proportion which the deaths under one year
bear to 1,000 births is therefore 53 as compared with 54 for the
previous year.
M. F.
Deaths under 1 year: Legitimate 24 14
Illegitimate 2 1
A comparison of the causes of Infantile Mortality in 1932
with those of the preceding year shows no increase of any significance
as compared with the previous year, with the exception that
2 deaths from measles were recorded.
It will be noted that during 1932 the deaths during the first
four weeks of life amounted to 18, a percentage of 44 of the total
Infantile Mortality during the first year of life, also that 14 of these
infant deaths occurred during the first week of life.
During the past 30 years the Infant Mortality rate has fallen
some 50% but this fall has occurred mainly subsequent to the
first few weeks of life, the death rate during the first four weeks
remaining much the same.
These very early deaths can only be reduced substantially by
the adoption of more widespread and efficient ante-natal work.