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18
Still Births
A total of 34 still births was registered during the year giving a still
birth rate of 11.0 per 1,000 live and still births, which compares favourably
with the rate of 13.0 for England Wales.
Infant Mortality
During the year 42 (23 male and 19 females) infants living in the
district, or born to mothers ordinarily resident here, died under one year
of age. Thiswas an increase of 5 on the figure for 1969 and with 2,931 live
births gives an infant mortality rate of 14.0 compared with that of 12.0
in 1968. The rate for England and Wales was 18.0.
Twenty-six or approximately 62% of these infant deaths occurred
during the first four weeks of life giving neo-natal mortality rate of 9.0
per thousand live births. Twenty-three of these neo-natal deaths
occurred during the first week of life, prematurity being the main cause
of death. These early neo-natal deaths combined with the still births give
a peri-natal mortality rate of 19.0 per thousand, live and still births,
compared with a rate of 20.0 for 1969.
Maternal Mortality
No deaths occurred during 1970 due to causes associated with
pregnancy and childbirth.
Deaths
The total number of deaths of residents of the Borough was 2,123
giving a death rate of 10.3 per 1,000 population. Liability to death varies
at different ages and also between the sexes. Accordingly, to offset the
effect of these variations and so produce a rate which can be used for
comparison purposes with other districts in the country as a whole, the
Registrar General calculates for each district a comparability factor which,
when applied to the crude death of 10.3 gives an adjusted death rate of
10.6 which then compares with the death rate of 11.7 per 1,000 population
for England and Wales. The main causes of death were as follows:-
1. Heart Disease 700
2. Cancer 497
3. Cerebovascular disease 267
Deaths from Heart Disease
This disease complex accounted for 700 deaths during 1970. Once
again the principal "Cause of Death" was ischaemic heart disease, which
accounted for 549 deaths. Until the actual cause is known, one cannot
define precisely any particular preventive measure. As mentioned in last