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INFANTILE MORTALITY
There were 30 deaths of infants under one year of age, as against
695 births; the proportion which the deaths under one year bear
to 1,000 births is therefore 43.2 as compared with 37.5 for the
previous year.
M. F.
Deaths under 1 year : Legitimate 19 8
Illegitimate 3 0
The chief causes of mortality among infants in 1938, as appearing
in Table II, was, prematurity (6 deaths), enteritis (3 deaths)
pneumonia (5 deaths), injury at birth (3 deaths), congenital malformation
(3 deaths).
It will be noted that during 1938 the deaths during the first
four weeks of life amounted to 15, a percentage of 50 of the total
infantile mortality during the first year of life, also that 11 of these
infant deaths occurred during the first week of life.
The reason for the high rate of mortality during the first few
weeks of life is that the children who receive injuries at birth and
those suffering from developmental and wasting diseases die soon
after birth.
During the past 30 years the general 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.
When every mother, and especially a first mother, attends an
ante-natal clinic, or is otherwise kept under medical supervision
during her pregnancy, then there should result a diminution in the
number of deaths of babies at this early age.
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