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response of Barking parents has been very good indeed and it is hoped that
if the trials prove successful B.C.G. vaccination will be made available
to a much wider section of the community.
Infant Mortality
It will be seen from the tables on page 34, that during 1950 a total
of 32 Barking children died under the age of one year. Of this total no
less than 20 died within the first month of life, with prematurity being
given as the cause of death in half the cases. Breaking these figures down
still further we see that 18 deaths occurred within the first week of life
and that of these no less than 9 were under one day old.
It will be noted, too, that two deaths were caused by accident—one
by suffocation and one by burning.
The infant mortality rate for Barking for 1950 is 27.0 and the table
on page 35 gives the rates for the past 25 years.
It is pertinent to point out that whereas great reductions have been
made in infantile deaths, the number of still-births remain more or less
constant and during 1950 no less than 26 were recorded.
There still remains much to be done in reducing the number of
deaths in the first weeks of life and of still-births.
MORTUARY FACILITIES
For a long time now mortuary accommodation in Barking has been
sub-standard, and I am happy to say that during 1950 you took the first
step towards a real improvement in this matter. A conference was convened
with the object of discussing the possibility of providing a mortuary
to serve Ilford, Dagenham and Barking. It is proposed to make this a
joint effort because it is so very expensive to have a separate mortuary for
each town.
The number of post-mortems carried out each year is more or less
constant over such an area and I have no doubt that such a joint venture
would enable us to undertake a difficult service in a satisfactory way.
Particularly, I am intrigued with this idea, because it will make it
economically possible to have a Chapel of Rest where friends and relatives,
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