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(iii) live baby delivered by Caesarean section; patient discharged home on 13th
day, readmitted to hospital four weeks later—death due to ruptured uterus;
(iv) live baby born in hospital as breech delivery; patient died of uncontrollable
post.partum haemorrhage.
Stillbirths
There were 79 stillbirths in 1960, i.e., 7.2 per 1,000 live and stillbirths. The stillbirth
rate in domiciliary midwifery for England and Wales was 9.9. In London the stillbirth
rate in the domiciliary service has shown a gradual decline, with the exception of 1959.

There has been some improvement since 1956, but only 27.6 per cent. of women book
for home confinement sufficiently early to have adequate ante-natal care; 18.9 per cent.
had totally inadequate ante-natal care.
A higher proportion of West Indian women tend to book late than women born in the
United Kingdom.
In the following tables 2,765 cases confined at home during the first quarter of 1961
are analysed by age, parity and the stage of pregnancy when the first attendance was
made. These tables show the extent to which the domiciliary midwifery service has had to
deal with cases which should have had hospital confinement.

344 mothers (12.5 per cent.) were over 35 years of age and 58 mothers (2.1 per cent.)
were over 40 years of age.
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