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INFANT MORTALITY.
The number of children under 1 year of age whose deaths were
registered during the year was 20, of which 11 were males and 9 females.
This represents an infant mortality of 18.6 per 1,000 live births, a
substantial improvement on the figure for 1945, which itself was a
record for the district. The corresponding rate for England and Wales
was 43.
A further satisfactory feature, as in the year before, is the fact
that none of these infant deaths was of an illegitimate child, although
the number of illegitimate births was the highest yet.
Of the 20 infant deaths, 60% died within one week of birth and
75% died within one month. No fewer than 14 died as the result of
prematurity, congenital abnormality, other birth conditions such as
imperfect expansion of the lungs, or diseases peculiar to the first year
of life. The remaining 6 were the result of infections, 5 due to pneumonia
and 1 to gastro-enteritis. The first group of deaths are much
the most difficult to prevent. They have been designated the unavoidable
deaths, since a child having been born in that condition,
death within the year is almost inevitable. Prevention of these deaths
is bound up with ante-natal development and more knowledge as to the
causation of such conditions. Death in the second group, i.e., the
infections, is by no means unavoidable since here we are dealing with
children born healthy and given correct nurture and a healthy environment
should survive. It is not surprising that the gradual reduction
of infant mortality experienced in past years has been mainly the result
of preventing those deaths which can be avoided by a better knowledge
of child care and the control of infection.
The ward distribution of infant mortality and the causes of death
arc shown in Tables (i and 7.

MATERNAL MORTALITY.
As in 1945, there was no death attributable to maternal causes
or as the result of abortion.
18