[Report 1915] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City.

  • Leeds City Council
Date:
1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1915] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    45/114 (page 45)
    The fall in the number of deaths assigned to prematurity, and to atrophy, debility and marasmus is very satisfactory but it is doubtful whether this is a permanent reduction. In 1914 prematur¬ ity showed an increase of 10 as compared with 1913, while the atrophy group showed a fall of 60. The nomenclature of disease in these groups is very indefinite, and there is probably consider¬ able variation in the interpretations of these terms when used by medical men in death certification. The one important deduction to be drawn from the table is the enormous proportion of infant deaths which are clearly due to preventable causes. It indicates that a large reduction in the infant death-rate is possible, and the same conclusion follows from the next table showing how the infant death-rate varies in different districts of the City :— Infantile Mortality in Districts. Registration District. Births in year. Deaths under one year. Rate per 1,000 births. North . . 1,290 146 113-2 North-East 939 124 132-1 West .. 1,670 148 88-6 South-East 1,203 183 152-1 Hunslet I,66l 253 152-3 Holbeck 833 114 136-9 Wortley H H CO 157 132-3 Kirkstall 856 92 107-5 Bramley 351 36 102-6 The reason of the low infant mortality rate in the West district is that a larger number of births are registered in the West district which do not really belong to it owing to the fact that the Maternity tiospital and other institutions are situated in the West Registration district. The same is not true of the infant deaths and therefore the proportion of deaths to births appears lower than it really should be. All these figures justify and call for more and more active work in promoting the welfare of expectant mothers and young children. They also indicate the need for progressive measures aimed at reducing the handicap of an insanitary environment.