View report page

30
The infantile mortality for the whole Borough was 79 per 1,000 births,
while that for the whole of London was 74 per 1,000.
Of the 102 illegitimate births, 21 died before they were a twelvemonth
old, or at the rate of 207 per 1,000.

There were 64 sets of twins born during the year, and two of triplets.
The rate of infantile mortality is again low, and by reference to the
above table it will be observed that it is the lowest on record.
Previous to the existence of the Borough Council, the infantile mortality
varied from about 160 to 200 per 1,000 births, and in some parts of the
District which now form the Borough of Stepney it was above 200 per 1,000
births (notably the Limehouse District). During the last four years, the
infantile mortality has been less than 100 per 1,000 births in each year, not
only for the whole Borough, but in each of the four districts which comprise
the Borough of Stepney. The most satisfactory feature is the gradual and
regular lowering irrespective of what the weather has been during the
summer. As a rule, if the summer has been warm and dry, the infantile
mortality has been high, due to the increased number of deaths from Summer
Diarrhoea. In 1922, the summer was cold and wet, and it was only natural
to expect a lowered infantile mortality because the number of deaths of
infants from Summer Diarrhoea would be low. We had, however, a rather
severe outbreak of Whooping Cough which accounted for 39 deaths of
infants under one year of age, or five times the number in the previous year.
150 deaths under one were due to Bronchitis and Pneumonia, or nearly
twice as much as in the previous year, many of these being complications
or the result of Whooping Cough.
Even in 1921, the hottest and driest year probably on record, the infantile
mortality was 90 per 1,000. Compare this with 1911, a year that most
nearly approached 1921 in character, when the infantile mortality was 149
per 1,000 births.