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passengers, and 2 pedestrians. No child died on the roads of the Borough during
1959.
Birth Rate
The Birth Rate rose from 14.0 in 1958 to 14.25 in 1959. 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 13.54 compared with 16.5 for England and
Wales as a whole.
INFANT MORTALITY
During 1959 the number of live births recorded was 812, 739 legitimate and
73 illegitimate. There were 12 still-births, 7 male and 5 female.
There were 22 deaths of infants under 1 year of age (as compared with 14
in 1958), giving an infant mortality rate of 27.09 for 1959. The local figure
compares with an infant mortality rate of 22.0 for England and Wales, and is the
highest recorded for a number of years, the last year in which it was greater
being 1951.
The graph on page 17 shows the progress of Infant Mortality since the
beginning of the century.
The number of premature infants born in 1959 was 54, including premature
stillbirths. Of the 51 premature infants born alive, 3 were born at home, (all
of these survived to the end of one month), 48 were born in hospital, of whom
43 survived to the end of one month.
The percentage of premature infants to total births (live and still) is 6.6.
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 1959
3.3 4.5 5.6 4.9 6.0 6.9 6.4 8.4 7.3 6.6
Causes of infants deaths are shown in Table II on page 66.
MATERNAL MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY
Deaths from Puerperal Causes:-
Puerperal Sepsis 1
Other Causes Nil
This maternal death occurred on the 14th day after confinement. The patient
was delivered in Hospital by Caesarean section, and died there after a further
operation.
During the year, 70 cases of puerperal pyrexia were notified as compared
with 58 in 1958. Four cases occurred after home confinement, 66 were notified
from Chiswick Maternity Hospital. 12 of the cases were residents of the Borough.
One death of a resident of the Borough took place in a hospital in another area
and was attributed to this cause.
The definition of puerperal pyrexia for notification purposes is "any
febrile condition occurring in a woman in whom a temperature of 100.4 degrees
Fahrenheit (38 degrees Centigrade) or more has occurred within fourteen days
after child-birth or miscarriage".
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