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 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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15
Puerperal
fever and
pyrexia :
maternal
mortality
There were 228 notifications of puerperal fever and 793 notifications of puerperal
pyrexia in 1937 (52 weeks) compared with 175 and 635 respectively in 1936 (53 weeks).
The deaths from puerperal fever numbered 46 and from other puerperal causes
80, the deaths per thousand live.births being .84 and 1.45 respectively, giving a
total maternal mortality rate of 2.29 compared with 1.98 in 1936.
The deaths from puerperal fever and other puerperal causes per thousand live.
births in each metropolitan borough and in the county of London in the periods 1921
to 1930 and 1931 to 1937, together with the deaths in childbirth in 1937, are shown in
the following table:–
Table 20
| Metropolitan boroughs arranged in topographical order | Childbirth deaths* per 1,000 live.births | Number of deaths in child birth 1937 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921-30 | 1931-37 | ||||||||
| Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | |
| Paddington | 1.6 | 1.5 | 31 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Kensington | 2.2 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Hammersmith | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Fulham | 2.1 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 3.2 | – | 6 | 6 |
| Chelsea | 1.9 | 3.1 | 5.0 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.9 | – | – | – |
| Westminster | 2.1 | 3.2 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| St. Marylebone | 2.3 | 2.5 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Hampstead | 1.9 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| St. Panoras | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Islington | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Stoke Newington | 2.3 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | – | 3 | 3 |
| Hackney | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Holborn | 2.4 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 1 | – | 1 |
| Finsbury | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | – | 1 | 1 |
| City of London | 3.7 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 4.3 | – | 4.3 | – | – | – |
| Shoreditch | 11 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Bethnal Green | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Stepney | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Poplar | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Southwark | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Bermondsey | 10 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.9 | – | – | – |
| Lambeth | 1.6 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Battersea | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 | – | 4 | 4 |
| Wandsworth | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| Camberwell | 1.9 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Deptford | 1.5 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | –_ | 1 | 1 |
| Greenwich | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 1 | – | 1 |
| Lewisham | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Woolwich | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.4 | – | 3 | 3 |
* Including deaths due to abortion except those legally determined to have resulted from criminal
interference.
The deaths in childbirth in 1937 are shown in the above table but not the death
rates, as, owing to the smallness of the figures, the rates for a single year may be
misleading. The maternal mortality rates for each metropolitan borough in 1937 and
for London as a whole annually since 1924 are, however, set out in tables 34 and 36.