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INFANTILE MORTALITY
There were 30 deaths of infants under one year of age as
compared with 36 in 1945. Seventeen died before they were one
month old, 10 between 1 and 3 months, 3 between 3 and 6 months,
and none over 6 months.
The causes of deaths were as follows:-
Birth Injury 2
Congenital Malformation 7
Prematurity 3
Infantile Gastro-Enteritis 5
Pneumonia 2
Bronchitis 4
Miscellaneous 7
The infantile mortality rate was 24.85 per 1,000 live births,
which is the second lowest rate in Finchley's history- the lowest
being 21.8 in 1941. The corresponding rate for England and Wales
was 43.
There is not much scope left for reduction in the deaths of
children over 3 months of age but there is still room for improvement
during the first few weeks, or neo-natal period, through
still better antenatal supervision, better feeding and housing,
better midwifery and more knowledge as to the causes of congenital
malformation and prematurity.
still births, which really ought to be counted as infant
deaths, are mostly due to the same causes as neo-natal deaths and
the same measures are necessary to reduce them.
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