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7
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
Public Health Department,
"Kynaston Court",
Harrow Weald.
To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Harrow.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1 have the honour to submit the Annual Report on the health and
sanitary conditions of the district for the year 1963.
The vital statistics for the year show the usual annual variations and
compare favourably with those for the country as a whole. The figures for
1963 show that there was a slight fall in the total population, a slight
fall in the birth rate, a static death rate, a considerable fall in both the
infant and neonatal mortality rates, no maternal deaths and even though
there was a slight increase in the stillbirth rate, the fall in the early neonatal
death rate produced a lower perinatal mortality rate. Although the
perinatal mortality rate has dropped the figure is still too high and represents
a large number of children who have died because of some factors
having effect in the pre-natal period or during labour. It must also be
borne in mind that in addition to the children who actually die as a result
of these factors there are probably many more who survive, but as a result
of factors such as prematurity, Rhesus incompatibility, asphyxia during
labour, are so damaged both physically and mentally that their hold on
life becomes very precarious. The rearing of some of these "damaged
children can in some instances place an almost intolerable burden on
parents and, indeed, on a family group as a whole. Research into causes of
perinatal mortality with the object of reducing both the number of deaths
and also as a corollary the amount of physical and mental damage to the
ones who survive, has been undertaken and in 1963 the first report of the
British Perinatal Mortality Survey was issued. This survey was initiated
under the aegis of the (National Birthday Trust Fund and resulted in
the nation-wide Perinatal Survey carried out in 1958. Detailed information
was collected and collated regarding over 17,000 births and over 7,000
stillbirths occurring during one week in March 1958. A vast quantity of
sociological, clinical and pathological data has been obtained and will
prove invaluable in assessing the perinatal mortality risks for different
maternal ages, parities and social groups. Some of these results are discussed
later in this report.