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74
Maternal Mortality.
One death was registered as being due to pregnancy
or associated with that condition, which is equivalent
to a maternal mortality rate of 0.52 per thousand total
births, compared with 3.93 for England and Wales.
The actual cause of death as stated on the certificate
was:—
1. (a) Myocardial failure.
(b) Ante partum haemorrhage.
2. Confinement.
An enquiry was made and it was ascertained that
this patient had never attended any of the Council's
Ante-Natal Clinics. The medical practitioner called in
to her confinement diagnosed Placenta Previa, and
arranged for her immediate removal to hospital. It is
fair to assume that had she been medically examined
before labour commenced, her life could have been saved.
Puerperal Fever and Pyrexia.
Fourteen notifications were received during the
year; of these 10 were those of puerperal pyrexia and
four puerperal fever. Per 1,000 total births (i.e., live
and stillbirths) the rates for these conditions were
5.2 and 2.08, the corresponding figures for the country
as a whole being 9.44 and 3.60.
The compulsory, notification of these conditions
has done much to draw attention to cases presenting
abnormal features during the puerperium, who otherwise
and formerly, received but scant attention. It is found
that in many cases the rise of temperature is attributable
to some cause which is not directly associated with
pregnancy or parturition; the fact, however, remains
that the investigation which follows in all cases does