On This Day, 9 October 1918

Birmingham Daily Post 

Wednesday 9 October 1918

BEST YEAR ON RECORD IN BIRMINGHAM

The report of the Medical Officer of Health for the city of Birmingham on maternity and child welfare during 1917 records the satisfactory information that, judged by the infant mortality rate, the year was the best on record. The mortality was at the rate of 101 per 1,000 births. The number of babies born declined by 4,854 compared with the average of the five years preceding the war, and the deaths of infants had decreased by 1,036. The death rate varied from 37 per 1,000 in Sandwell to 168 in St. Mary’s; that is to say, the rate in the worst was 360% higher than in the best area.

In a special report Dr. Robertson comments on the very high mortality at birth, together with the great loss of life due to ante-natal death. The mortality during the first two weeks of life is very much higher than at any subsequent period, and, curiously enough, the mortality in the healthier districts of Birmingham during the first two weeks of life not much better than in the poorest class areas. There is very little difference in the relative number of still-births recorded in good and bad wards. Thus, the figures per thousand are 32 in St. Mary’s and 31 in Edgbaston.

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