[Report 1934] / School Medical Officer of Health, Exeter.

  • Exeter (England). City Council.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1934] / School Medical Officer of Health, Exeter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/100 (page 16)
    are chiefly to blame. Neither party can explain quite satisfactorily the curious differences in rates between apparently comparable areas, or the equally curious similar- ity in rates between certain other areas that seem to have nothing in common. Consider, for example, the maternal mortality rates for 1933 for the following-:—— Buckingham pshire 2.53 Westmorland 8.83 Yorkshire (W. Riding) 5.94 Cardiganshire 9.60 Exeter 3.07 Bath 5.19 Bournemouth 6.03 Carlisle 11.38 Blackburn 2.60 Northampton 0.84 West Ham 1.75 Such figures as these and many more published in thej Annua] Report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health (page 280, Appendix D) are likely to shake the preconceived ideas of most amateur social reformers, though, no doubt, each rate is capable of explanation. Almost certainly many factors play their part in determining the maternal mortality rate and it is probable that the invest- igations now proceeding under the Ministry’s direction,; particularly of apparently anomalous rates, will discover those factors that are of fundamental importance. Two other points are often overlooked. No matter how good the environment or how perfect the maternity service, there is always a small number of persons who, for one reason or another, fail to take advantage of the facilities provided. The routine investigation oT maternal deaths nearly always provides examples of such cases. The other point is that knowledge as to the cause and prevention of some of the risks of pregnancy and childbirth is incom- plete or lacking, and that research in obstetrics is just as important as in many other branches of medicine that have receivea more attention. A good deal has been done to