[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Oxfordshire County Council.

  • Oxfordshire (England). County Council. n 81006935.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Oxfordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/88 (page 6)
    The chief causes of death were pneumonia 8, premature birth 13, and congenital malformation and birth injuries, etc., 29. The rate for 1948 is one less than for 1947, and is the lowest ever recorded in the County. It is still considerably lower than the average for England and Wales, although great improvement has taken place recently in the latter and the difference between the rates for Oxford¬ shire and England and Wales is consequently not so large as it used to be. The satisfactory position has been achieved through the facilities which have been granted by the Committee for Child Welfare Work and the work that has been done in the field by the Health Visitors and District Nurse-Midwives over a period of years. The following table gives the rate per 1000 births for the County and for England and Wales for the past 10 years: Year Oxfordshire England & Wales 1948 21 34 1947 22 41 1946 27 43 1945 37 64 1944 37 46 1943 34 49 1942 33 49 1941 38 59 1940 51 45 1939 36 50 1938 34 53 Maternal Mortality The maternal mortality rate is slightly more than that in 1947, but the rate is so low that one extra death during the year in a County of the size of Oxfordshire will make an appreciable difference to the statistics. In point of fact, of the three deaths occuring during the year, one was an inward transfer from another county and in the case of the other two, the first occurred in a woman who did not suspect she was pregnant and consequently had no ante-natal care, whilst the second occurred in a person who despite the efforts of the staff consistently refused to have ante-natal care. The following is a (10 year) table which shows how the excellent maternal mortality rate has now been consistent over a period of 10 years. Maternal Mortality per 1000 live and stillbirths Year Oxfordshire England & Wales 1948 1.28 1.02 1947 1.1 1.17 1946 .96 1.43 1945 1.06 1.79 1944 .95 1.93 1943 1.86 2.29