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The resultant infant mortality rate was thus 24.0 per 1,000
registered births, compared with 21.7 in 1951 and 17.2 in 1950, the
latter being the lowest ever recorded for this District.
The infant mortality rate for England and Wales was the
record of 27.6 in 1952, compared with 29.6 in 1951, which was the
lowest previously recorded.
It is relatively satisfactory to note that congenital malformation,
the cause of which is unknown, produced over a third of the
total deaths, but the number of deaths due to infection could be
improved upon, while the one death due to accidental strangulation
was very regrettable.
The 13 babies dying in the first month correspond with a
neo-natal mortality rate of 17.3 (i.e. deaths in the first month per
1,000 live births), which is a very slight improvement on 1951 but
not unlike the average for the past 7 years, which was 18.
During the year 6 premature babies were notified as being
born at home and 27 in institutions. Of the former one died
during the first day and of the latter 4 died, 2 in the first day and
2 within fourteen days.
This suggests that 15 per cent of the premature babies died,
compared with 20% in 1951 and an average of 22% in the years
since 1945.
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