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It is pleasing to report that no deaths occurred from puerperal
sepsis during the year, and that the number of deaths occurring
from violence showed a welcome decline.
The principal causes of death are shown in Table I on page 13.
Table II, on page 14, sets out the distribution of the deaths
which occurred during the year according to age groups and sex.
From this it will be seen that the age group showing the highest
percentage of deaths was the 65 years and over group, with 51.82.
Next came the group 45-65 years with 31.22 per cent., after which
there was a marked fall to 8.24 per cent. in the age group 25-45.
It will also be noted that the age groups containing those
individuals from birth to 45 years totalled only 16.96 per cent. of
the aggregate deaths.
Infantile Mortality.—There were 28 (1 illegitimate) deaths of
infants under 1 year of age, which give an infantile death-rate of
43.41 per 1,000 births registered, as compared with 30 deaths and
a rate of 44.05 in the preceding year.
The rate for England and Wales for 1936 was 59.
It will be observed that the infantile mortality rate fell
slightly during 1936, and that it is still considerably lower than
the figures for England and Wales, which rose from 57 to 59 during
the same period.
Table 111 on page 15 sub-divides the infant deaths according
to the weeks or months at which they occurred. 50 per cent. of the
total deaths occurred during the first month, while 85.7 per cent.
of these occurred during the first week. Prematurity accounted
for 7 deaths, congenital malformations for 4, and pneumonia for 7.
All the infant deaths were investigated.
Stillbirths.—Twenty-three stillbirths, 1 of which was illegitimate,
were accredited to the district for 1936. This is equal to a
death-rate of 34.43 per 1,000 total (live and still) births registered,
the corresponding figures for 1935 being 19 stillbirths with a rate
of 27.14.
Maternal Mortality.—The maternal mortality rate—i.e., the
number of mothers dying as the result of childbirth per 1000 total
(live and still) births,—was 1.49 for 1936. This represents 1
maternal death, which occurred outside the district. Last year
there were 3 deaths with a corresponding rate of 4.29.
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