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merely of the adequacy or efficiency of those services dealing particularly
with the welfare of the child, but of the social or sanitary state of the
community. The causes of the deaths in the early days of life are so very
different from those which cause the deaths of those even up to the age of
12 months, that those occurring before the infants have attained the age
of one month are separately classified as neo.natal deaths, and the number
expressed as a rate per 1,000 births is the neo.natal mortality rate. These
neo.natal deaths result from developmental abnormalities, prematurity
and defects in labour as contrasted with those which occur in infants
in the rest of the first year of life which are largely related to those
conditions which affect the healthiness of the general population. A
few years ago it was suggested that the most that could be hoped for
was that the neo.natal rate might be stabilized about 20, and that it
ought to be possible to reduce the infant death rate of those of ages
1 to 12 months to 10.
In this last year 39 infants in this district died in their first year of
life. This is an infant mortality of 13.6. Of these 39 deaths, 27 occurred
in infants before they had reached the age of one month. The neo.natal
mortality rate was therefore 10, being 69 per cent. of the total infant
mortality rate.
The rates for this district have consistently been below those of the
country as a whole. Never before, though, in this district, and probably
in no other district of this size in the country, has a rate as low as this
been reached. The lowest rate hitherto recorded here was 20.7, in 1949,
which was itself a marked fall on the previous record of 24.0 for 1947.
The national rate for last year was 29.8.
Stillbirths.
Apart from the loss of lives of young children there is the further
loss of those who die before being born. In this district 63 stillbirths
were registered, being a rate per 1,000 population of 0.26 compared with
the figure of 0.37 for the country as a whole.
Deaths of Children of 1 to 5 Years of Age.
Eight children survived their first, but did not reach their fifth
birthday. Of these 3 died in their second year, 1 in the fourth and 4 in
their fifth year.
Maternal Mortality.
The total maternal mortality rates includes all deaths of women,
primarily due to or associated with pregnancy or childbirth, expressed
as a rate per 1,000 live and stillbirths registered in the year.
There were 4 deaths during the year associated with pregnancy,
the maternal mortality rate therefore being 1.3. The first was a death
during labour, the result of myocardial degeneration associated with
uterine haemorrhage and toxaemia of pregnancy. The patient had had
full ante.natal supervision and the labour took place under good conditions.
The second death, which occurred after delivery, was the result
of a suprarenal haemorrhage due to infective hepatitis. The third