Deaths in childbed : a preventable mortality : being the Milroy lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, 1904 / by W. Williams.

  • Williams, William, 1857-1911.
Date:
1904
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Deaths in childbed : a preventable mortality : being the Milroy lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, 1904 / by W. Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    used the terms peritonitis, pyajmia, septicemia. &.C., in registering- the deaths of women of the child-bearing a.ge. It is certain that sticli a practice (which has been con- tinued up to the present time) has led to the inclusion under the heading of puerperal fever of a number of deaths that would otherwise not have been classiiied as such, and doubtless the increased mortality from this cause is more apparent than real. I am perfectly willing to make full allowance for this and to concede that the sustained increase of the mortality in childbirth, especially puerperal fever (puerperal septic diseases) during the last 20 years may be at least partly accounted for in this way. When, this is Table II.—The Importcmit Features of the FoTcgoiwj Table. Death-rate per 1000 births. England and Wales. Total deaths in child- birth. Deaths from puerperal septic diseases. Deaths from accidents of childbirth. \.yerage of 5 years from 1851-1855 4-9 1'5 3-4 5 It 1856-1860 4'6 1-5 3-0 11 5 ** 1861-1865 4-8 1-6 3-2 f • 5 t* 1866-1870 4'6 1-5 3'1 II 5 *i 1871-1875 5-4 2-4 3-0 1* 5 ti 1876-1880 3-9 1-7 2-2 *i 5 1881-1885 4-9 2-8 2-1 II 5 *i 1886-1890 4-5 2-4 2-1 It 5 tf 1891-1895 5-4 2-5 2-9 It 5 11 1896-1900 4-8 2-0 2-6 ti 1 year 1901 4-7 2-2 2-4 granted we are still face to face with the fact that the child- birth mortality has not at all diminished in the past 20 years ; on the contrary it will be noticed in glancingFover the above tables that this mortality for the years 1892, 1893, and 1894 was 5-78, 6-51, and 5-36 per 1000 respectively, and that 6'51 per 1000, the rate for 1893, is the highest on record since'the commencement of a system of registration. More- over, the mortality rates per 1000 from puerperal fever and accidents of childbirth for these years are correspondingly high, y\z. :— 1892. 1893. 1894. Mortality in childbirth 5'78 6-51 5-36 Puerperal fever 2-62 3'30 2*43 Accidents, &c 3-16 3-19 2-92 Therefore it will be seen that the mortality in both groups