View report page

VIOLENCE.
Deaths from violence (including suicide) showed a very
slight increase compared with 1949, the death rate being 0.37
per thousand of population compared with 0.33 last year and an
average of 0.39 both for the inter-war years, and for those
since the war.
Deaths on the road decreased slightly, three deaths being
attributed to this cause compared with five last year and three
in 1947 and 1948. In all three accidents, collision with a motor
car occurred, the deceased being respectively a pedestrian, a
motor cyclist and a passenger.
There were diverse causes of the remaining 14 accidental
deaths, the only ones causing more than a single death being
falls in the elderly, train accidents and operative treatment.
The number of deaths attributed to suicide, 7, was one less
than last year, and was about the average for the inter-war years.
TUBERCULOSIS AND PNEUMONIA.
Deaths from tuberculosis and pneumonia are referred to
in later sections of this report.
MATERNAL MORTALITY.
Unfortunately, after a clear year in 1949, two maternal
deaths occurred, which is slightly more than the average, the
maternal mortality rate rising sharply to 2.60 per 1,000 live and
still births. Both deaths occurred in hospitals outside the District,
and neither person had attended a local clinic. From the information
available the causes of death are well recognised, but
infrequent complications of pregnancy, one of which might possibly
have been prevented from terminating fatally.
The maternal mortality rate for England and Wales was
0.86 per 1,000 live and still-births, which is the lowest yet
recorded.
INFANT MORTALITY.
During 1950, there were 13 deaths among children under
one year of age, as compared with 21 last year, and an average
of 23 in the last 3 years. None of the deaths was in respect
of an illegitimate child.
The resultant infant mortality rate was thus only 17.2 per
1,000 registered births, which is the lowest ever recorded for
this District.
Similarily, the infant mortality rate for England and Wales
was the record of 29.8 in 1950, compared with 32 in 1949,
which was the lowest previously recorded.
13