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The maternal mortality rate (excluding post-abortion deaths) in 1956 was 0-30 as
compared with 0.61 in the previous year. The total number of maternal deaths in the
County during a year has now fallen to such a low level that purely chance fluctuations
will affect them considerably.
Of the 16 deaths in pregnancy or childbirth not one was due to sepsis ; six of the
eleven post-abortion deaths came under the category of 'abortion with sepsis'.
The trend of maternal mortality in London since 1906 is shown in Table 4 (page 232):
it fell slowly and somewhat irregularly—with an upswing during the first world war—
until the introduction of sulphonamides in the middle of the 30's; from then on
puerperal sepsis has dwindled rapidly away but the fall in ' ther causes' was interrupted
by the second world war. The course of maternal mortality since 1946 for both London
and England and Wales is shown by the following diagram.
MATERNAL MORTALITY
(excluding abortion)
Mortality per 1,000 births
The rates for England and Wales have been adjusted to bring them into line with the latest
International Classification of Causes of Death.
Puerperal
pyrexia
Notifications of puerperal pyrexia numbered 1,792 compared with 1,984 in 1955.
Since notifications are in respect of all women having their babies in London the
denominator to be used in the calculation of a rate should be total births registered in
London without correction for place of residence. On this basis the notification rate
becomes 29.5 per 1,000 total registered births compared with 33.9 in 1955 and 32.5 in
1954.
The weather
A summary of the meteorological observations at Kew Observatory during 1956
is given in Table 13 on page 240. January was a wet month with temperature about
average; there were three days of thick fog early in the month. February was dry and
very cold. March was relatively dry with sunshine about average for the time of year.
April, May and June were dry and cold months and sunshine for the month of June
was particularly low. In July a deluge set in, with rainfall for the month more than
twice the average; this type of weather continued until mid-September resulting in a
notoriously 'bad' summer characterised by excessive rain and a deficiency of sunshine.
October and November were relatively dry with sunshine above average. December
was mild, wet and sunless—only nine hours of sunshine were registered for the whole
month.
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