London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1928
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
18
Trend of
maternal
mortality in
relation to all
other causes
of death.
The mortality rates among married women in England and Wales for the two periods 1911-15 and 1921-25 in childbirth, and from all other causes, respectively,, were as follows:—
| Age. | Married women. Death rate per 1,000 living from— | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Childbirth. | All other causes. | |||||
| 1911-15. | 1921-25. | Decrease %. | 1911-15. | 1921-25. | Decrease %. | |
| 20— | 1.04 | .82 | —21.1 | 2.88 | 2.58 | —10.4 |
| 25— | .84 | .70 | —16.7 | 3.06 | 2.82 | — 7.8 |
| 30— | .80 | .68 | —15.0 | 3.74 | 3.14 | —16.0 |
| 35— | .78 | .60 | —23.1 | 5.20 | 3.92 | —24.6 |
| 40—45 | .42 | .34 | —19.0 | 7.10 | 5.12 | —27.9 |
The decrease per cent. in the mortality of childbirth among women under 30
years is shown to be greater than the decrease in other causes of death. For
comparative purposes the mortality rates from all causes among spinsters may be
stated:—
Age.
Spinsters—Comparative mortality from all causes.
1911-15. 1921-25.
Increase (+) %
Decrease (—) %
20— 2.94 304 + 3.4
25— 3.34 3.38 + 1.2
30— 4.28 3.86 — 9.8
35— 5.56 4.42 —20.5
40—45 7.38 6.00 —18.7
The increased mortality of single women at the younger age recalls the observed
increase in phthisis mortality among young women since the war, to which reference
has been made in previous reports.
Maternal
mortality in
relation to
social
conditions.
For the purpose of illustrating in a general way the relation of social condition
to maternal mortality in London, a group (A), representative of the better class of
population has been formed of the boroughs of Hampstead, Lewisham and Wandsworth,
and another (group B), of poorer populations comprising the boroughs of
Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Finsbury, Shoreditch and Stepney. The contrast
afforded between the two groups in respect of some relative rates for the year 1920-22
is as follows:—
Fertility. Infant Death rates
Total Births Legitimate mortality. from all
per 1,000 births per cause among
living. 100 married women aged.
women. 15—25 25—45
Group A 18.2 13.7 60 2.31 3.59
Group B 28.4 21.2 92 3.23 5.87
Broadly speaking the figures of Group B are between 50 and 60 per cent, greater
than those of Group A, the excess being much the same under all the heads shown.
The boroughs of Group A, of course, contain a large proportion of persons of the
same class as that of Group B, and the contrast is, therefore, not so great as would
be shown by figures relating purely to the well-to-do class and to the poorer classes
respectively.
It would be expected in view of these figures that the maternal mortality in
Group B areas would be in excess of that of Group A ; actually, however, if the risk
in child-birth of the mother in poorer districts were relatively as great as the risk
of dying from all other causes, the maternal mortality of Group B would be nearly
doubled.