London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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10
Puerperal
fever and
pyrexia.
There were 312 notifications of puerperal fever and 758 of puerperal pyrexia in 1929 (52 weeks) compared with 294 and 768 respectively in 1928. The death-rates from puerperal fever and other accidents of childbirth per thousand births in each metropolitan borough in the period 1920-1927, together with the deaths in childbirth in 1928 and 1929, are shown in the following table:—
| District. | Childbirth deaths per 1,000 births. 1920-1927. | Number of deaths in Childbirth. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928. | 1929. | ||||||
| Puerperal fever. | Other causes. | Total. | Puerperal fever. | Other 1 causes. | Puerperal fever. | Other causes. | |
| Paddington | 1.48 | 1.81 | 3.29 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| Kensington | 1.93 | 1.65 | 3.58 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 6 |
| Hammersmith | 2.09 | 1.75 | 3.84 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Fulham | 1.95 | 1.55 | 3.50 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Chelsea | 1.84 | 2.93 | 4.77 | – | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Westminster, City of | 1.51 | 2.87 | 4.38 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| St Marylebone | 2.07 | 2.60 | 4.67 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Hampstead | 1.74 | 1.63 | 3.37 | 1 | 5 | – | 5 |
| St. Pancras | 1.40 | 1.66 | 3.06 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Islington | 1.39 | 1.50 | 2.89 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 7 |
| Stoke Newington | 2.55 | 1.88 | 4.43 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Hackney | 1.75 | 1.50 | 3.25 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
| Holborn | 2.87 | 0.61 | 3.48 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| Finsbury | 0.95 | 1.36 | 2.31 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| City of London | 2.01 | 1.00 | 3.01 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Shoreditch | 1.11 | 1.24 | 2.35 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Bethnal Green | 0.88 | 1.66 | 2.54 | 3 | – | 5 | 5 |
| Stepney | 1.04 | 1.41 | 2.45 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| Poplar | 1.20 | 1.75 | 2.95 | – | 8 | 4 | 6 |
| Southwark | 1.26 | 1.43 | 2.69 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Bermondsey | 1.15 | 1.76 | 2.91 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Lambeth | 1.77 | 1.36 | 3.13 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Battersea | 0.91 | 1.88 | 2.79 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Wandsworth | 1.60 | 1.67 | 3.27 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 7 |
| Camberwell | 1.75 | 1.47 | 3.22 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Deptford | 1.63 | 1.74 | 3.37 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Greenwich | 1.01 | 1.37 | 2.38 | 3 | 4 | – | 2 |
| Lewisham | 1.05 | 1.91 | 2.96 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8 |
| Woolwich | 1.16 | 1.64 | 2.80 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
Owing to the smallness of the figures, the death-rates for a single year are misleading
and the relative mortality in the various boroughs can only be inferred from
rates covering a considerable period, as, for instance, those shown in the table for
the 8 years 1920-1927.
The above table shows that during this period the boroughs with the lowest
maternal mortality per 1,000 births were Finsbury, Shoreditch, Greenwich and
Stepney; and that the highest mortality occured in Chelsea, St. Marylebone, Westminster
and Stoke Newington. The deaths per 1,000 births, i.e., the maternal
mortality, in 1929 are shown in the table on p. 18.
Enteric
fevers
There were 351 notifications of enteric fevers m London in 1929 (52 weeks)
compared with 580 in 1928. The deaths in the calendar year numbered 45 as
against 51 in 1928.