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
Harrow 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
This page requires JavaScript
The following table sets out the local infant mortality rates and the neo.natal mortality rates, and also the infant mortality rates for the country as a whole :
| National | Infant Mortality Rate Local | Neo.natal Mortality Rate Local | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939......... | 50.6 | 38.5 | 20.8 |
| 1940......... | 56.8 | 50.0 | 31.1 |
| 1941......... | 60.0 | 55.6 | 28.0 |
| 1942......... | 50.6 | 31.5 | 20.2 |
| 1943......... | 49.1 | 38.0 | 22.0 |
| 1944......... | 48.7 | 34.8 | 22.7 |
| 1945......... | 46.0 | 32.2 | 25.3 |
| 1946......... | 43.0 | 31.0 | 25.6 |
| 1947......... | 41.0 | 24.0 | 14.6 |
| 1948......... | 34.0 | 28.8 | 16.1 |
The local rates which, for every year, were lower than the national
rates can be seen to follow the same general curve, showing the steady
improvement in the rates, though with interruptions in the fall in the
years 1940 and 1941.
In 1948, 93 (80 legitimate and 13 illegitimate) infants died before
they attained their first birthday, this being an infant mortality rate of
28.8 compared with the national rate of 34.
Fifty.two of the infants failed to survive one month. The neo.natal
mortality rate, therefore, was 16.1, being a percentage of the total rate
of 55.
The following table shows how the factors prominent in causing death in the early part of the first year become of less importance in the later months, at which time the infections are responsible for most of the deaths:—
| Under 1 day | 1.7 days | 1 wk. to 1 mth | 2.3 mths | 4.6 mths | 6.9 mths | 10.12 mths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congenital defect | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | —. |
| Atelectasis | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | . |
| Birth injury | 1 | 1 | . | . | . | . | . |
| Prematurity or immaturity | 14 | 10 | _ | 2 | _ | — | |
| Bronchitis or pneumonia | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Whooping cough | . | . | . | 1 | . | 1 | 1 |
| Gastro.enteritis | — | — | . | 2 | 3 | — | — |
| Other infections | _ | — | — | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| Non.infectious diseases | . | . | . | 1 | 2 | 2 | . |
| Total | 22 | 22 | 8 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 2 |