London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Carshalton 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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INFANT MORTALITY
One of the great achievements of the present century has been the saving
of infant life and within the last twenty-five years infant mortality has
been halved. The scope for further reduction automatically becomes less
with every degree of progress made. As would be expected an increasing
proportion of infant mortality is due to causes, which with some measure of
justification have been designated "unavoidable." They are occasioned by
prematurity-congenital malformation and asphyxia of the new-born etc.,
conditions which when existing at birth in effect make survival impossible.
Such deaths are only "unavoidable" in our present imperfect understanding
of the ante-natal factors to which these conditions owe their origin.
Babies dying in the first year of life in 1959 totalled 19 giving an infant
mortality rate of 24.5 per thousand live births. This is 8 more infant deaths
than in the year before and the increase is mostly accounted for by a greater
number dying within twenty-four hours of birth from "unavoidable" causes.
Only 2 died of an infection, that of pneumonia.
TABLE 6.
INFANT MORTALITY-WARD DISTRIBUTION.
| Ward | Infant Deaths | Rate per 1,000 Live Births |
|---|---|---|
| St. Helier North | 1 | 11.4 |
| St. Helier South | 2 | 27.7 |
| St. Helier West | 1 | 12.5 |
| North-East | 5 | 35.7 |
| North-West | 2 | 20.4 |
| Central | 1 | 13.8 |
| South-East | 3 | 25.6 |
| South-West | 4 | 42.1 |
TABLE 7.
INFANT MORTALITY DURING THE YEAR 1959. Deaths Classified as to Cause and Age at Death.
| Cause of Death | Under 1 week | 1-2 weeks | 2-3 weeks | 3-4 weeks | Total under 4 weeks | 4 weeks and under 3 mths. | 3 mths. and under 6 mths. | 6 mths. and under 9 mths. | 9 mths. and under 12 mths. | Total deaths under 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prematurity Congenital | 8 | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Malformation | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| Atelectasis | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Birth Injury | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Accidental | 1 | -_- | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Pneumonia | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| Totals | 13 | - | 1 | - | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
MATERNAL MORTALITY
There was again no death attributable to child-birth during the year.
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