London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Enfield 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]
This page requires JavaScript
TABLE II.
Infant Mortality
Net Deaths from stated causes at various Ages under One Year of Age.
| Causes of Death. | Under 1 week. | 1 to 2 weeks. | 2 to 3 weeks. | 3 to 4 weeks. | Total under 4 weeks. | 4 weeks and under 3 months. | 3 months and under 6 months. | 6 months andunder 9 months. | 9 months and under 12 months. | Total Deaths under One Year of Age. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Causes—Certified | 19 | 1 | — | _ | 20 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 24 |
| Uncertified | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pneumonia (all forms) | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 2 |
| Enteritis | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Atelectasis | 5 | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | 5 |
| Congenital Malformation | 5 | 1 | — | — | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | 8 |
| Premature Birth | 7 | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | 7 |
| Cerebral haemorhage | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | |
| Totals | 19 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 24 |
Net Births in the year :—Legitimate : Live births, 1,323 ; Stillbirths,
35. Illegitimate : Live births, 56; Still-births, 1.
Net Deaths in the year :—Legitimate Infants, 22; Illegitimate, 2.
It will be seen from Table II that of the 24 infants who died
before attaining the age of 1 year, 20 died within the first four
weeks of life, and of this number 19 deaths occurred in infants
under 1 week.
The main problem in connection with Infant Mortality is
concerned with deaths within the first few weeks of life, mainly
the first week, as 20 of the 24 infant deaths occurred during that
early period from congenital malformation, premature birth and
atelectasis.
The infant mortality rate for the District is 17.40 and this
figure compares most favourably with the rest of the country.