Infant mortality in Scotland / the report of a sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Committee.
- Great Britain. Department of Health for Scotland. Scientific Advisory Committee on Medical Administration and Investigation.
- Date:
- 1943
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Infant mortality in Scotland / the report of a sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![class as distributed by the Registrar-General. ) There is a steady rise from class I to class V in all causes shown except congenital malformations and injury at birth. The rise is greatest for infectious disease. Whooping-cough mortality in class V is nine times that in class I ; for bronchitis and pneumonia it is seven times and for tuberculosis, diarrhoea and enteritis and other common infections, four times. In class V the recorded prematurity rate is not quite double, and the congenital debility rate not quite three times, that of class I. Comparison of these data with those in Table 12 shows, in respect of causes, that only the upper classes in England and Wales are comparable with New Zealand, and that Scotland, as a whole, approximates to the lowest occupational class in England and Wales. ae Table 14.— Mortality of Legitimate Infants according to Social Class of Father, England and Wales, 1930-32 Mortality of children Infant mortality rates per 1,000 of specified class per legitimate live births. cent. of that of all legiti hil ; Cause of death. egitimate children stan toa ne rv eS Oe eae asses. : Whooping Cough . 1s O38. “FO. 6 21 22°7 | 17 56trorsOeny 150 T.B. All forms R 1:0 03 O06 O99 1:1 +4131] 30 60 90 110 130 Other Common Infections 33 Pt 2 29 36 (4°91) 383 52° 83.100: 148 Bronchitis and Pneumonia 12°7 28 ‘6:1 1-2 14°5,. 18°8 | 32.48 88 .L14,148 Diarrhoea and Enteritis . 5:2 2°0 ~2°6 46 °5°4° 7°9 | 88° 50. 88° 104 152 Premature Birth . 17°3 10°5 144 16°8 186 196! 61 83 97 108 113 Congenital Debility 3°0 Pee ge 3B S38 b 4a ioe, ST BIO - EOF Injury at Birth. . 2-1 23 25 21S 20h 2°07 F106 119-100 95° “95 Congenital malformation 5°5 50 54 56 S57 54); 91 98 102 104 98 Convulsions , | Es, I-77. 2:0. 2G F2°3 | 62. Sis 96. 194 110 Accident ; 0°8 06 O8 O7 O99 41:0! 75 100 88 113 125 Other Causes 6°8 Bl 6:0 °° 63 TO - 74 | 75-88 93° 103 109 All Causes 61°6 32°7 45:0 57°6 66°8 77:1 | 53 73 94 108 125 The Importance of Prematurity : In almost all records prematurity is the most frequent single stated cause of death in the first month. Even so, the records greatly understate the importance of prematurity because, usually, if it is possible to assign any other cause, a death will not be ascribed to prematurity. Yet the cause specified may be closely related to the prematurity. For instance, congenital debility and malformations may be simple expressions of incomplete development, and injury at birth is more likely to occur to the premature infant because its tissues are more fragile. An attempt has therefore been made to assess the effect of prematurity on infant mortality. Only studies in which premature births are distinguished by a birth weight of less than 2,500 g. (54 Ib.) have been considered. Two studies of the incidence and effect of prematurity in general popula- tions have been found. One relates to mortality in New York State, excluding New York City, in 1936 ; the other to mortality in New York City in 1939. The former includes both white and coloured infants since these were not separately stated. From the latter the data for births of white infants have been extracted. a1](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32174640_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
