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24
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
Notification of Births.
1,781 notifications of live births were received during the year;
the majority of these were notified by midwives.
Stillbirths.
26 male and 24 female stillbirths were notified and registered.
The rate per 1,000 of total population registered was 0.45, the rate
for England and Wales being 0.51. The percentage of illegitimate
stillbirths to the total was 2.0, compared with a percentage of
illegitimate to total births of 4.50.
Infant Mortality.
85 infants under one year of age died during the year, giving an
infant mortality rate of 46.07 per 1,000 live births, compared with
that of 49 for England and Wales and 58 for London. The rate
amongst legitimate children was 47.11 while for illegitimate children
it was 24.10.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
Three cases of this disease were notified, one of which was treated
in hospital; all made complete recoveries.
There were 27 cases in which a medical aid notice was sent by
a midwife to a medical practitioner on account of some eye condition
occurring in a newly-born infant. All these cases were visited by the
Medical Officer of Health and a Health Visitor. Of the total cases
investigated, only three were notified as suffering from true Ophthalmia
Neonatorum.
Maternal Mortality.
Four maternal deaths were assigned to this district, which give
a maternal mortality rate of 2.11 per thousand births. This is a
remarkably low figure; that for England and Wales for the corresponding
period was 2.29 which also is low.