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8
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
Twenty-four deaths of infants under one year of age
were registered during the year, and of these two were
illegitimate.
The causes of these infants' deaths were as follows:—
Diarrhoea and enteritis, 11; Tubercular diseases, 2;
Premature birth, 4; Congenital defects and debility, 3;
Convulsions, 1; Pneumonia, 1; and Suffocation (overlying),
2.
Twenty-two of these babies died within the district,
one in the Union Infirmary, and one at St. Bartholomew's
Hospital.
The infantile mortality rate is calculated on the actual
births and infantile deaths registered during the year, and
for the year under review is 110.5 per thousand births, a
considerably increased rate compared with the previous
year.
The rate for England and Wales for 1911 is 130 per
1000 births.
The increased rate is mainly due to the mortality from
Diarrhoea, which was considerably above the average.
The disease was markedly prevalent during the month
of August, and was undoubtedly accentuated by the very
hot weather prevailing at the time.
The Notification of Births Act has not been adopted.
The work of inspection under the Infant Life
Protection Act is performed by a trained Nurse employed
by the Board of Guardians.