[Report 1907] / Medical Officer of Health, Bridlington U.D.C. Borough.

  • Bridlington (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1907] / Medical Officer of Health, Bridlington U.D.C. Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    39 deaths of children under one year of age, giving a proportion of 136.36 to each 1,000 registered births. The deaths among illegitimate children under one year, were 6, giving an infantile mortality of 300 per 1,000 registered illegitimate births. Vital Statistics (1906). Annual Rates per 1,000 living. Deaths. Deaths from Seven Deaths under Births. from all Chief 1 year per Causes. Epidemic Diseases. 1000 births. England and Wales 26.3 15.O 1.26 118 76 great towns 27.O i5-4 1-54 127 142 smaller towns England and Wales, less 257 H-5 I.29 122 the 218 towns 25.6 147 O.91 106 Borough of Bridlington ... 18.9 12.7 O.72 Two striking features present themselves in the above Table, viz., the low birth-rate and the high rate of infantile mortality for this district, as compared with those for the country generally. As to the low birth-rate, I pointed out in my last Annual Report that it is dependent on the fact of the comparatively small proportion, of married women of child-bearing age resident in the Borough. With regard to the infantile mortality, it may be pointed out that this rate shows considerable fluctuation from year to year. Thus, while in 1906 the rate of 109.5 was con- siderably lower than that of the whole country, in 1907 the rate of 136 was considerably higher than that of the whole country, and this is the more remarkable as the number of deaths from Diarrhoeal Diseases was much smaller in the latter year than in the former. The question, then, naturally arises, ‘ ‘ What are the causes of this large infantile mortality ? ” and the answer will be found in referring to the Table of Infantile Mortality appended. It will there be seen that the causes are miscellaneous, but the two which account for the largest number of deaths are Wasting Diseases and Bronchitis. These causes figure prominently in the Infantile Mortality Table in most years, but are rather more than usually evident in the year now under review. It appears then, that out of the 39 infantile deaths, 14 were due either to premature birth or to congenital debility or marasmus. While marasmus may be induced after birth by causes which are largely preventible, such as improper feeding and impure air, the greater number of