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passengers, 1 motor assisted pedal cyclist, 5 pedestrians. No child died on the
roads of the Borough during 1958.
Birth Rate
The Birth Rate rose from 13.8 in 1957 to 14.0 in 1958. To make an approximate
allowance for the way in which the sex and age distribution of the local
population differs from that for England and Wales as a whole, the birth rate
is multiplied by a comparability factor supplied by the Registrar-General. This,
then gives a comparative birth rate of 13.16 compared with 16. 4 for England and
Wales as a whole.
INFANT MORTALITY
During 1958 the number of live births recorded was 800, 746 legitimate and
54 illegitimate. There were 11 still births, 5 male and 6 female.
There were 14 deaths of infants under 1 year of age, (as compared with 13
in 1957, 15 in 1956, 10 in 1955 and 21 in 1954), giving an infant mortality rate
of 17.5 for 1958. The local figure compares with an infant mortality rate of
22.5 for England and Wales.
The graph on page 18 shows the progress of Infant Mortality since the
beginning of the century.
The number of premature infants born in 1958 was 59, including premature
stillbirths. Of the 53 premature infants born alive, 2 were born at home, (one
of these survived to the end of one month, the other died after being transferred
to hospital), 51 were born in hospital, of whom 47 survived to the end
of one month. There is some improvement in the survival rate of premature infants
shewn here.
The percentage of premature infants to total births (live and still) is
7.3. There seems to have been this year some reversal of the rather alarming
upward trend in the figures for premature confinement though the comparative
rate is still more than double that for 1950. The following figures show the
percentages of premature infants to total births (live and still) since 1950.
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958
3.3 4.5 5.6 4.9 6.0 6.9 6.4 8.4 7.3
Causes of infants deaths are shown in Table II on page 65.
MATERNAL MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY
Deaths from Puerperal Causes:-
Puerperal Sepsis Nil
Other Causes Nil
There was one maternal death in Brentford and Chiswick, the first for six
years. It occurred in the first weeks of pregnancy, in hospital, and was due
to a cause not preventible by any methods known to medicine.
During the year, 58 cases of puerperal pyrexia were notified as compared
with 82 in 1957. Four cases occurred after home confinement, 54 were notified
from Chiswick Maternity Hospital. 12 of the cases were residents of the Borough.
No deaths occurred from this cause.
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